I opened my eyes groggily and found myself lying on the ground in complete darkness. I touched my wrist and realized the flashlight that had been tied there was missing. Beneath me was a cold, flat surface, and I could hear what seemed to be flowing water nearby. Where was this place?
I took a deep breath, and memories began to surface in my mind: a waterfall, scalding hot spring water, a corpse chained up. Suddenly, a flash of white light crossed my vision, and the previous scene replayed in my mind. It seemed that I had fallen straight down a cliff along the water’s flow and landed in a pool below. The water was icy cold, a stark contrast to the scalding hot spring water. The moment I hit the water, I felt a sudden silence in my ears, and then I couldn’t remember anything. I probably hit something while falling into the water and knocked myself unconscious. Falling from several dozen meters into the water, if the position wasn’t right, it would feel no different from hitting concrete.
I touched my body; I was still wet. Could it be that after falling from the waterfall, the current had carried me here? Or had I simply died and arrived in the underworld?
I tried to stand up and barely lifted my head when suddenly, I bumped my head against something with a thud. Pain shot through my head, and I saw stars. I quickly felt around and realized it was a flat surface above me. I wondered why it was so low here. Had I been swept into a crevice in the rocks or beneath some stones?
I felt around and found that wasn’t the case. Within a foot of me, the rough wooden boards surrounded me, and when I knocked on them, they sounded hollow. In such a small space, I could only lie down and turn; I couldn’t even raise my head or stretch.
I pushed against the surface above me, wanting to check the thickness of the wooden boards, but discovered that they could move. With a push, there was a loud bang, and suddenly a beam of light appeared in the darkness. I raised my knees and gently moved the wooden board aside, sitting up. When I looked outside, I was taken aback.
I was in a stone chamber made of white marble, with torches lit in all four corners, illuminating the surroundings. I looked up at the ornate ceiling, which featured two intertwined pythons, and realized I was sitting inside a coffin, the lid of which I had pushed aside.
What the hell is this place? Who put me in a coffin?
I stepped out of the coffin and surveyed my surroundings, feeling increasingly puzzled. The white marble material and the carved python design on the ceiling were very familiar. After thinking for a moment, it struck me: this place was almost identical to the tomb chamber of an underwater mausoleum.
No way!
After walking around, I found even stranger things. I noticed that my clothes had been changed without my knowledge, replaced with a rubber suit resembling a diving suit, the kind worn by divers in the 1980s. My curiosity deepened; where on earth did they get such an old-fashioned suit?
I picked up a torch from the corner of the wall and walked out through the entrance of the chamber. Outside was a corridor, and as soon as I glanced down it, I gasped. My God, the straight white marble corridor led directly to three jade gates at the end; it looked exactly like the underwater tomb!
What’s going on? How did I come back? My scalp tingled, and my thoughts began to swirl. Was this a tomb chamber that resembled an underwater mausoleum, or had I never actually emerged from the underwater tomb? My God, what on earth is happening?
I rubbed my face hard, lifted the torch higher, and carefully examined my surroundings, trying to find some discrepancies. If this was a similar tomb chamber, there would surely be something that set it apart.
Above the passage was a wooden frame, like scaffolding, with planks laid across it, forming a makeshift bridge to cross the passage and preventing any traps from being triggered. I wondered who had set it up. I cautiously climbed up and made my way to the opposite side of the passage. The light of a torch shone from the jade door of the rear hall, while the two side halls were shrouded in darkness.
At that moment, I recalled Lao Yang. He had jumped off the waterfall with me. I fell into the pool and lost consciousness for so long before arriving at this inexplicable place. What had happened to him?
As I pondered, I walked toward the door from which the light emanated. The light was quite bright, shining through the gap beneath the jade door. When I reached the door, I heard sounds coming from within. Pressing my ear against the door, I caught a cough.
Then, a voice said, “What should we do? Should we open the coffin?”
Another voice, sounding quite hesitant, replied, “San Sheng said not to touch anything here for now. We should listen to him.”
Upon hearing these two voices, I was taken aback. The first speaker was actually Deng Youping, but I couldn’t identify the second speaker. Moreover, they mentioned San Shu—was San Shu here?
What surprised me even more was that I immediately heard a third voice. It said, “Wu San Sheng is still sleeping. What’s the harm in just taking a look? I’m on Xiao Zhang’s side.”
I didn’t fully understand their conversation, but there was no doubt that the third speaker was a woman.
What did their few words mean? It sounded like Deng Youping wanted to open a coffin, while the other person hesitated due to San Shu’s warning. At that moment, a woman stepped forward to support Deng Youping. I felt completely baffled. Had Deng Youping already found San Shu?
As I pondered this, I leaned closer to the door gap to see who was speaking inside. Unfortunately, my view was limited, and I could only see the back of a woman wearing a diving suit the same color as mine. She had a petite figure and a long braid.
Then, I heard a fourth voice say, “What about Qi Yu? That guy really knows how to play around. Who knows where he’s run off to? Are we just going to leave him here?”
Hearing this, I was suddenly taken aback. Qi Yu was one of the names listed in San Shu’s notes. No wonder it sounded somewhat familiar. Wait, that’s not right.
I suddenly felt very uneasy. Qi Yu. This name was more than just familiar; it felt like something I had often heard. I had a very special feeling in my heart.
At that moment, the woman in the crack of the door stepped aside, creating some space. I saw the “Dumb Oil Bottle” standing next to a black coffin, hesitating with a crowbar in hand. Then another woman entered my line of sight. The moment I saw her face, I was so shocked that I almost dropped the torch I was holding.
This person—wasn’t it Wen Jin? My God, what was going on? Although I had never seen her in person, my third uncle had many photos of her. During the New Year, when we looked at old photos, I often saw her, so I recognized her at a glance—there was no mistake.
My confusion reached its peak, and I almost wanted to push the door open. Just then, another unfamiliar male voice said, “This underwater tomb is so large; how can we find him easily? I think we should just forget it. Let’s mark our way, and he will naturally follow when he sees it. Xiao Zhang, why don’t you take action?”
The “Dumb Oil Bottle” nodded, raised the crowbar, and was about to act when suddenly a roaring sound of water came from the left side of the auxiliary room, startling me.
Everyone in the back hall turned their heads. The man asked, “What sound is that? It seems to be coming from next door!”
“Let’s go check it out!” The “Dumb Oil Bottle” put down the crowbar and ran toward the door. Realizing something was wrong, I quickly turned and hid in the right auxiliary room, putting the torch on the ground and stamping it out. Almost simultaneously, I saw a group of people rush out of the back hall and into the jade door on the side. Then a woman exclaimed, “Look! There’s a pool here!”
Hiding behind the door, I was extremely astonished. The scene just now was exactly what Zhang Qiling had described to me—what happened after my third uncle fell asleep. But how did it feel like I was experiencing it myself? Was this an illusion? Or had I completely lost my mind?
The surroundings returned to darkness. I took a few deep breaths, intending to relight the torch when another person appeared in my line of sight, holding a fire stick. This person came down from the bridge in the corridor and secretly hid behind the jade door of the left auxiliary room, peeking inside. With just a glance, I recognized him as my third uncle when he was young. He seemed very frustrated, his brows tightly furrowed.
After a while, the voices of Zhang Qiling and the others gradually faded away, presumably heading down the spiral staircase into the pool. My third uncle extinguished the fire stick and slipped into the jade door. My heart raced, and regardless of whether this was an illusion or a dream, I hurriedly followed him. I pressed against the door of the left auxiliary room, wanting to sneak a look inside when suddenly, my uncle walked out from the door, grabbing me by the neck and whispering, “So it’s you following me!” With that, he suddenly tightened his grip, choking me.
In a moment of panic, I wanted to shout, “Third Uncle! I’m your nephew!” but I couldn’t get the words out. I could only desperately try to pry his fingers apart.
As I struggled, I suddenly heard a voice say, “Old Wu, wake up! Are you having a nightmare?”
I jolted awake, and suddenly everything around me disappeared. In the haze before my eyes, Lao Yang was shaking me.
It was all just a dream. I let out a bitter laugh, touched my neck, sat up, and turned my head to see that I was lying on a stony beach next to a pool of water. The roar of the waterfall was still quite loud, but I couldn’t see where it was. A campfire was lit on the stony beach. Lao Yang was supporting me, asking if I was okay.
I waved my hand and said I was fine, then pinched my nose hard, feeling very strange about how I could have such a bizarre dream. Could it really be that thoughts during the day lead to dreams at night?
Lao Yang handed me a water bottle, and I took a sip. Looking around, I hoarsely asked him, “Where is this place? What happened to me?”
Lao Yang replied, “This is the edge of the pool below the waterfall. The waterfall is right there. You fell into the water and passed out. I held on to you tightly, or you would have been swept away by the currents below the waterfall. You really should thank me; I’m completely exhausted now.”
I cursed and tried to stand up, finding that I wasn’t seriously hurt. I struggled to walk a few steps and looked around. The light from the campfire illuminated the small crescent-shaped stony beach we were on. On one side was a large dark pool, with numerous stalactites hanging down like thick legs into the water, forming stone pillars of various shapes. Surrounding the pool were several caves, some as large as elephant dens and others as small as mouse tunnels, each one seemingly bottomless. Some were at water level, while others were below; underground river water flowed in and out, creating a typical karst underground lake.
I knew this kind of geographical environment was usually formed during the fourth glacial period and had taken thousands of years of gradual expansion to reach its current scale. The history of these caves far surpassed that of humanity. I never expected there would be such a place inside Tianmen Mountain.
On the shallow beach, besides us, there were many stranded branches and debris that Lao Yang had already dragged up to dry. The campfire was made from these materials. The chill from the pool was biting; without this campfire, I would have likely frozen to death.
I thought of Uncle Tai and the others and asked Lao Yang, “What about the others? How are they doing?”
Lao Yang said, “Those guys probably aren’t as lucky as us. I didn’t see them when we jumped into the water; I don’t know if they jumped down. If they ended up like us, they either got swept away to another place or drowned.” After a pause, he added, “But our situation isn’t great either. We lost all our gear, and I don’t know how we should proceed. Look at all these branching paths; this cave system is notoriously complex, like a maze, making it very tricky to navigate.”
I counted; I could see about seven or eight caves above the water surface that we could walk through, and there were even more in the darkness. I said, “I just heard that fat guy from Guangdong say that to get through this cave area, we must find the iron chain that the ancient ancestors used as a guide. This chain is submerged underwater, with one end at the end of a secret passage, and the other end should be in this pool. If we can find it, we can follow it into the heart of the ancient tomb.”
Old Yang furrowed his brow and thought for a moment, then said, “Speaking of iron chains, I just remembered something. You know, when I fell from above, I was fully conscious at that moment. I plunged into the water, which was at least six or seven meters deep. Underneath the water, there were all those stone figurines we saw earlier in the stone path. In the blink of an eye, I seemed to see an iron chain lying across the water. But let me tell you, this iron chain doesn’t lead into those caves; it goes straight down into the turbulent waters beneath the waterfall.”
I was taken aback. How could that be? If that were the case, could the entrance to the ancient tomb be hidden behind this waterfall, concealed within the rapids?
Listening to the roar of the waterfall not far away, I recalled the scene when we fell earlier, and suddenly a thought struck me. I said to Old Yang, “Then that makes even more sense. Moreover, if I’m right, this ancient tomb might not be built in our ‘world of the living’ but hidden in the underworld…”
The underworld!
Old Yang didn’t understand what I meant by this and was affected by my ominous tone. He asked in a low voice, “What nonsense are you talking about? How could such a thing be possible?”
I shook my head and asked, “Do you remember what Old Liu from the village told us? The legend of the Yellow Spring waterfall and the galloping ghost soldiers in the mountains, as mentioned by the Taoist priests from the Qing Dynasty?”
Old Yang nodded and said, “Of course I remember. They said there was a Yellow Spring waterfall in Tianmen Mountain, which was a passage between the realms of the living and the dead. Didn’t you say that was superstition?”
I replied, “No, it seems this isn’t superstition; we misunderstood the meaning of our predecessors. Think back to the waterfall we fell into earlier. Due to the hot springs below, the water had a strange yellow hue. If I’m not mistaken, that’s the so-called ‘Yellow Spring’ waterfall.”
Old Yang pondered for a moment and said, “It does seem a bit like it, but it’s impossible. Only those who have been inside the mountain and seen this place would know about the waterfall. The environment here is complex; it’s not a place ordinary people can enter.” As he spoke, he suddenly realized something and exclaimed, “Damn, could that legendary Feng Shui master from the Qing Dynasty be one of our predecessors?”
I nodded in agreement and praised him, “Finally, you show some reasoning ability.”
Old Yang became excited and said, “Then it all makes sense. You think about it; most of the ghost soldier legends also spread during the Qing Dynasty. Could it be that they were deliberately disseminated by these Feng Shui masters?”
I nodded, “That’s quite possible. But we don’t need to focus on that right now. Recall that there’s another saying in the legend: ‘The Yellow Spring waterfall is a passage between the realms of the living and the dead.’ If the iron chain leads to the waterfall, then there must be a passage behind the waterfall leading to the ancient tomb. So, could it be that the ancient tomb is indeed in the underworld?”
Old Yang’s face turned pale, and he said, “No way! Don’t scare me like that. If it really is the underworld, then we’d definitely die if we went in there!”
I scolded him, saying, “Damn it, you really believe them? Those feng shui masters are our competitors; their words shouldn’t be taken so seriously. I think there are two possibilities: first, it could have been a coded message at the time, meaning that this waterfall is a passage between the ancient tomb and the real world; second, they might have seen something in the cave behind the waterfall that made them think they had entered the underworld.”
I paused for a moment and continued, “If it’s the second possibility, then we might need to prepare ourselves psychologically, as there could be some terrifying sights inside…”
Old Yang fell silent and after a long time said, “Maybe we should just go back…”
I shook my head. It would be a shame not to go in and take a look after coming all this way. Besides, the waterfall was so massive and imposing that climbing up it seemed impossible. The surrounding caves were also places where one could easily meet their end. The wisest choice was to reach the ancient tomb first and then find a way to get out.
Old Yang couldn’t convince me, so he had no choice but to go along with my decision. We rested for a while and began checking our gear to see what we had left.
In terms of weapons, we still had the paddle and the Tokarev pistol that Old Yang had gotten from Ermazi, so firepower shouldn’t be an issue. As for other supplies, I opened the backpack I had taken from the corpse at the bottom of the water and found some canned food that I wasn’t sure was still good, white liquor, a water bottle, gloves, and a large quantity of sketching pens and oil paints.
Old Yang thought these were useless and wanted to throw them away. I told him that the white liquor could help keep us warm, the paints could be used to mark our way, and the gloves would also be useful. Since we had so few possessions, it was better to keep everything.
After some adjustments, I realized that our biggest headache was that we had no lighting tools. Old Yang’s flashlight was completely dead, and I had no idea where mine had fallen. It would be terrible if we had to swim while holding a torch.
Old Yang pulled the pistol forward, glanced around at the darkness, and said, “There’s only one way to go. Let’s pile up some firewood, make a big fire, and then swim across using the light from the fire. Even if we can’t make it, at least we can swim back towards the light. What do you think?”
I thought for a moment and realized this was the only feasible option, so I replied, “Alright, let’s take a gamble.”
We took off our clothes and stuffed them into the backpack. Then, using the gloves and some sticks, we made a few short torches, placing them in the waterproof section of the backpack before lighting a large fire. After warming ourselves, we jumped into the water and began swimming towards the sound of the waterfall.
The water was icy cold, and after a few strokes, I felt all the heat in my body being sucked away. Fortunately, I had gained a bit of weight recently, so I wasn’t frozen stiff immediately.
After swimming for about five minutes, the sound of water grew louder. Old Yang and I stopped, treading water while listening to the sounds around us, trying to determine the right direction before swimming again.
At that moment, something suddenly broke the surface of the water not far from us. We quickly turned around, but since we had already moved too far from the fire, we couldn’t see what it was.
Old Yang pulled out the Tokarev pistol, shook the water out of the barrel, held it high, and cautiously looked around, asking, “Old Wu, you don’t think there are those naked salmon here, do you?”
I felt a chill run down my spine as I thought about how vast this body of water was. If there really were those deadly fish, we would surely be doomed. Just as I was about to say there were none, a clear splash of water echoed nearby, and my heart sank with unease. I said, “I don’t know. In any case, let’s swim quickly. These fish are scared of noise, and the closer we get to the waterfall, the safer we will be.”
We immediately started to paddle our arms and swam toward the waterfall. At that moment, the firelight behind us grew fainter, shrinking into a small dot. We had no choice but to grit our teeth and move forward in the darkness while calling out to each other.
Before long, the water became increasingly turbulent as we approached the waterfall’s domain. We exerted more effort, but our speed slowed down, and swimming became difficult. I gritted my teeth, trying to push myself forward, but I failed several times.
My strength was gradually depleting, and I could see that I was about to be swept back by the current. I was anxious, and at that moment, Lao Yang shouted that we absolutely couldn’t swim through like this. Ahead was the chaotic area stirred up by the waterfall, filled with whirlpools of various sizes. To get through, we had to stay close to the bottom of the pool and dive slowly beneath the turbulent water.
Saying this, he suddenly dove into the water and disappeared. I followed him down, desperately fighting against the current for a few meters until I reached the bottom of the pool. Suddenly, I saw a faint white light on the bottom ahead.
I recognized that light; it was my waterproof flashlight. I thought to myself that this sturdy item, which cost over a thousand, was indeed durable and was still shining. I hurriedly gathered my strength and swam toward it.
There were no living creatures at the bottom of the pool. In the area illuminated by the white light, I saw numerous stone statues neatly arranged below. Some of the human heads, which had already rotted into white bones, had fallen off, while others were still firmly attached to the necks of the stone figures. In the middle of the pool, there seemed to be a stone platform, and floating above it was what appeared to be a body wrapped in white cloth.
At this moment, my flashlight was the most attractive thing to me. I took a few glances and decided not to pay attention to those things. Instead, I dove among the stone figures, holding onto one to stabilize my body, and slowly made my way toward the flashlight.
Just as I was about to reach it, a rush of water suddenly surged from behind me. Realizing something was wrong, I immediately became alert, but I didn’t expect something to collide forcefully with me. A white shadow flashed in front of my eyes and crashed into my hand. I lost my grip on the stone figure and began to float upward uncontrollably.
I shouted in alarm, and in an instant, I was swept into the center of the turbulent waters above. The force pushing against me suddenly changed direction, sending me swirling sideways. I gasped as I lost my composure, being tossed around by the current and unable to control my position.
In the chaos, I had no idea how many turns I was pulled through. I only felt several times that a white shadow flashed past me, but I couldn’t make out what it was.
My consciousness quickly blurred, and I thought I was done for. At that moment, my back slammed into something hard, jolting me awake. I quickly turned around and grabbed it—it was the iron chain that Lao Yang had mentioned.
I could no longer care about my flashlight. I grabbed the iron chain and climbed toward its end with all my strength. In just a few moments, I reached the bottom of the waterfall, but I was already at my limit. I felt an immense force pouring down from above, pressing me down toward the bottom of the pool. I had barely crawled two meters when I could move no more.
Old Yang caught up from behind, grabbed my hand, and pulled me up. We pulled on the chain while kicking at those stone figures, and finally broke through the area below the waterfall. Suddenly, I felt the pressure above my head ease, and I immediately floated to the surface, gasping for air, my head spinning.
It was pitch black all around, and I could only hear Old Yang’s heavy breathing. He coughed a few times and asked me, “Are you okay? It seems like we’ve made it through.”
I coughed a few times in response and said, “Quick, light a fire! There’s something off about this pool; there might be something dirty in the water.”
Old Yang flicked his lighter, trying to see the surroundings, but the splashing water was too intense, and the flame went out as soon as it lit.
We groped our way further in when suddenly I heard that sound of water from outside the waterfall again, this time very close, as if something was swimming just two or three meters away.
“Be careful!” I recalled the white shadow that had bumped into me in the water and felt a surge of panic. I said to Old Yang, “It seems like there’s something nearby…” Before I could finish my sentence, I suddenly felt a cold, slippery hand resting on my shoulder.
I screamed in terror, wondering what it could be. Could it be that the stone figures below the water had come to life? Instinctively, I rolled in the water, kicking the thing behind me, sending it away, and then I burst out of the water, shouting at Old Yang, “Damn it, there’s a ghost under the water! Get the hell out of here!”
Old Yang had already lit the lighter, startling me. He quickly turned to shine it on me, and the moment he did, our scalps went numb, almost scaring us to death. There, just below the water’s surface behind me, floated a pale human head, staring at us with a ghastly expression.
We kicked back in fright, and in his panic, Old Yang tried to draw his gun but couldn’t pull it out no matter what.
The head rolled its eyes back, its mouth opened as if to say something, and then it lunged at me. I screamed and tried to escape, but found no way out. The head pressed down on me.
I screamed hysterically, trying to push it away, but it held on tightly. In the midst of the chaos, I suddenly heard the head clearly say in my ear, “Help… me…”
I froze, stopping my movements, my mind going blank. I thought, how could a water ghost ask for help? I quickly adjusted the head, brushed aside its hair, and was shocked to see that it was barely bleeding.
My God, this wasn’t a water ghost at all; it was that cool-headed guy from the group!
He was exhausted, his eyes rolling back, nearly passing out. No wonder his face was so pale. I hurriedly swam behind him, pulled him up, and called for Old Yang to help.
Old Yang swam closer, took a look, and immediately recognized him, puzzled as he asked, “What the hell? How did he end up here? How did he get in?”
I said to Lao Yang, “This guy might have gotten separated from his group and is too scared to act alone, so he has been lurking near us, monitoring our movements. When he saw us go into the water, he thought we had found a way out and followed us in. However, he didn’t expect that we were heading to such a dangerous place.” The sounds of water we heard earlier were probably made by him while he was following us.
Lao Yang was still carrying the backpack, which had absorbed water, and was pulling him straight into the water. Lao Yang quickly stripped the backpack off him and asked me, “What should we do with him now? He’s one of them; won’t bringing him along cause us trouble?”
I also felt a headache coming on, but we had to bring him along; we couldn’t just leave him to drown here. I said, “There’s no other choice now. Let’s find a place to get out of the water first, and we can deal with him later.”
We adjusted our positions and swam a few meters inward, where a long stone staircase appeared beneath the water, leading up to more than ten steps above the water’s surface. We slowly approached and stepped onto the stairs.
Exhausted, I collapsed onto the steps, gasping for air, while Lao Yang, unusually excited, took out a prepared torch, doused it with white liquor, and lit it, illuminating the surroundings instantly.
I turned my head to look around and realized that this so-called entrance to the underworld was merely a cave hidden behind a waterfall. It wasn’t too big or too small, seemingly naturally formed, although some areas showed signs of human tampering.
Above the stairs was a stone platform made of green-patterned stone, surrounded by four stone pillars carved with images of birds and beasts. In the center of the platform stood a strange, tall bronze vessel resembling a large gourd, over my head in height, rusty and adorned with images of double-bodied serpents and sacrificial activities.
This is an altar, I thought to myself. The She people emphasize rituals over burial customs, and the presence of this object indicates we are indeed very close to an ancient tomb.
We climbed onto the stone platform, placed our bundles and Lao Yang on the ground, then went to the other side of the platform to observe. There, we found a ten-person-wide stone staircase winding down into the depths of the cave, with over a hundred steps. The torchlight couldn’t reach the bottom, so we couldn’t see what lay below. I said to Lao Yang, “If this is the entrance to the underworld, then this place is the gate of ghosts. Below us might be the eighteen levels of hell. Are you afraid?”
Lao Yang pointed at the side where Lao Shi Ye was and said, “Afraid of what? I can’t wait to go down there, but what about this guy?”
With the entrance to the ancient tomb so close, both Lao Yang and I couldn’t contain our eagerness to check it out immediately. However, with Lao Shi Ye as a burden, we couldn’t just leave him behind. We had to wake him up first.
We stripped him of his clothes and gave him a couple of swigs of white liquor, which quickly brought some color back to his face. Lao Yang opened his eyes and looked at him, asking, “Hey, can you talk?”
Lao Shi Ye was gradually regaining consciousness and realized he had fallen into our hands. He nodded helplessly and coughed.
Old Yang said, “Don’t be afraid. We’re not like your group; we won’t do anything to you. But we need to ensure our own safety. You need to behave yourself, and we’ll take you further in. Otherwise, I’ll just take you out right here. Do you understand?”
Master Liang nodded again, opened his mouth as if to say something, but couldn’t get the words out.
Old Yang poured a few more mouthfuls of liquor into him, causing him to cough violently. Then he took out a belt and tied Master Liang’s hands securely. He turned to me and said, “I’m still not at ease. These people are all desperate, so let’s tie him up first.”
Master Liang, lacking the strength to resist, allowed Old Yang to bind him. Seeing that he was no longer a problem, we lifted him up to lead the way. The three of us went to the other side of the stone platform, stepping down the stone steps.
Generally speaking, the Snake Kingdom isn’t skilled in mechanisms and tricks, but out of caution, we took a long time to descend the hundred or so steps. Finally, we reached a flat area at the bottom of the stairs.
At the bottom of the stairs was a black stone beam, and beyond it was a sheer cliff.
This terrain might be due to the underground waterway’s rock formation, which has a stepped downward structure. Some areas have experienced landslides, resulting in a series of faults.
Below the cliff was pitch black; we couldn’t see how deep it was or what lay beneath.
Now we were in a dilemma. If we had a flashlight, it would be fine, but with just a small torch, how could we see what was down there? Old Yang asked me what to do, suggesting we throw the torch down. I replied, “How can we do that? If the torch goes down, how do we follow?”
At that moment, Master Liang, weak and breathless, said, “Gentlemen, there’s a signal gun in my bag…”
Old Yang quickly rummaged through his bag and indeed found a signal gun. He looked at Master Liang in surprise and said, “Hey, you’re not so bad after all. You really are cooperating.”
I checked the signal gun; it seemed fine. I pulled the safety and fired a signal flare up towards the cliff.
The tracer lit up a large area, and in an instant, the entire cave was clearly revealed before my eyes.
As we looked down, all three of us froze.
At first, I didn’t realize what I was seeing, but once I understood, I was stunned, my mouth agape, hardly daring to believe my eyes.
Master Liang, who had already been weak, collapsed to the ground upon seeing the scene below, nearly falling off the edge. Old Yang’s face turned pale, and he instinctively took a step back.
About ten feet below the cliff was a natural cave, densely packed with what looked like dead wood. Upon closer inspection, I realized they were all bones, stacked closely together, with some places even piled several layers high, amounting to tens of thousands of them.
“What… what is this place!” I exclaimed. “My God, isn’t this a mass grave?”
No wonder those feng shui masters claimed to have seen the underworld; the sight was too shocking. Anyone who saw it would surely think it was a scene from hell!
However, for some reason, I felt that the scene before me seemed very familiar, as if I had seen it before. I frowned and tried to recall, and suddenly, an identical situation appeared in my mind. Yes! The corpse cave near Guazimiao in Shandong looks very much like this place, doesn’t it?
I became extremely confused, feeling as if something was stuck in my throat, rendering me speechless. This place is indeed connected to the corpse cave at Guazimiao in Shandong! The crystal coffin on the mountain and the white-clad female corpse with hair reaching the ground among the pile of corpses—could there be something similar here as well?
I immediately looked around, and at that moment, the signal flare in the sky had already glided to the end of its arc. In the instant the light extinguished, I seemed to see a strange spot among the corpses.
