Volume Two – The General’s Tomb Chapter Six – The Mysterious Old Man

A clattering of chains sounded from the iron gate above, and then the four of us watched as the gate slowly began to slide upward. When it was halfway open, the view inside was still blurry, but by the time the gate had fully risen, the sight before us left all four of us shaken.

Ahead stretched a long, narrow street. At that moment, Gaofeng gripped my arm even tighter, his hand trembling so much I could feel it. The street was only about three or four meters wide, with a few scattered wooden stalls in the middle, displaying items like incense and spirit money. Yet, not a single soul was to be seen on the street or around the stalls.

Instead of shops, the two sides of the street were lined with black stone walls, each at least four meters high. The entire street was utterly deserted.

Just then, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turning my head to the right, I saw, by the wall to the left, a wooden chair. Seated upon it was an elderly man dressed in coarse hemp garments, a large bamboo hat shading his face, watching me intently.

The light was meager, with only two torches flickering above on either side. Because of the hat, I couldn't make out the old man’s features at all.

He said nothing, simply lifted his head to observe the four of us. Then, with a skeletal hand, he reached into his robes, groped around for a moment, and produced four yellow wooden tokens.

I reached out and took one. It was about the size of a child’s palm, its edges encased in some unidentified metal. On its surface were carved two archaic characters: Ghost Market.

I nodded to the others, and they each stepped forward to accept a token from the old man as well.

The three of them lowered their heads to inspect the tokens, carefully examining them.

At that moment, Li Kun forgot the one rule I had laid out: whatever you see here, do not speak. Staring at the token, he looked up and said, “Old Liu, how much do you think this thing is worth?”

His words had barely left his lips when I snapped my head up to glare at him. Then I turned to look for the old man, but he was no longer beside me. At that instant, Li Kun’s cry came from behind.

The moment I heard his shout, I spun around. The old man had somehow appeared behind Li Kun, holding a dim kerosene lamp just behind Li Kun’s head.

Li Kun’s entire body began to tremble, beads of cold sweat forming on his brow. In those two seconds, his face turned a ghastly ashen blue. Though his mouth gaped, no sound escaped.

Seeing this, I knew things had gone terribly wrong. Clearly, Li Kun had ignored my warning.

Gaofeng and Tian Tian were frozen in place. As Gaofeng snapped out of her shock, she instinctively opened her mouth to scream. Tian Tian, noticing, darted over and clamped a hand over Gaofeng’s mouth.

Gaofeng quickly realized what had happened; had Tian Tian not stopped her, she would have been next.

I hurried over to the old man, saying nothing, and instead pulled out the yellow wooden token he had given me. Bowing, I held the token in both hands and offered it to him.

In those few seconds, Li Kun’s face went from ashen to waxen yellow, his mouth straining for air, but something seemed to be squeezing his throat—he couldn’t move at all.

If this continued for even ten more seconds, he would suffocate.

The old man turned to me. Seeing me bent in a bow, token in hand, he frowned, glanced at the rigid Li Kun, and sighed softly. He then gently set down the lamp.

The moment he did, the lamp’s flame, which had been burning brightly, went out completely, as if it had never been lit.

The old man studied me for a moment, then slowly nodded, but did not take the token from my hands.

As the old man stepped away, Li Kun collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.

After a while, color returned to Li Kun’s face, and he finally understood why I had told him not to speak, no matter what happened.

I bowed deeply to the old man once more, then crouched to help Li Kun to his feet. He rubbed his neck and bowed deeply to the old man in turn.

The old man sat slowly back down in his wooden chair and gestured for us to move forward.

I nodded, then turned to the others. I patted Li Kun’s shoulder; he nodded, signaling he was all right.

Seeing he was fine, I took Gaofeng’s hand and started walking ahead. I led the way, Gaofeng behind me, then Tian Tian, and Li Kun at the rear.

Li Kun was still shaken, glancing back nervously. What he saw made him shudder again.

The old man who had sat at the entrance was nowhere to be seen. Li Kun looked around—the four-meter-high stone walls on either side revealed nothing. The old man had clearly been here moments before, and the iron gate had not reopened.

Fear crept into Li Kun’s heart. Was this old man human or ghost? He had vanished without a trace—could it be he wasn’t human at all, but a spirit?

With that thought, Li Kun hurried to stay close to Tian Tian. As we moved forward, a chill crept up his spine, as if something were watching him from behind.

Li Kun's fear was not unfounded; anyone who had just experienced what he had would feel the same.

I kept leading the way, and after about twenty meters, a pair of wooden double doors appeared ahead.

At the sight of those doors, a weight lifted from my chest. Silently, I thought, “At last, we've arrived.”