Chapter Fifty-Five: Deeper Doubts

Both the fat man and I were crouched in the corner of the ear chamber, panting heavily. It was some time before the fat man finally spoke. “Damn it, those things are stone from head to toe—maybe their brains are rocks too. Stupid as they are, they probably just rolled straight off the cliff outside.”

“Why don’t you go out and check?” I said, still shaken.

He shot back, “Hell no! It was your blood that made those things appear. If anyone’s going, it should be you. Who knows, you might be kin with them.” Then he suddenly looked at me, “Come to think of it, why did your blood work on them right away?”

“How the hell would I know?” I muttered. It was strange, but suddenly something else occurred to me. “Right—now we know the mountain wall and the stones overhead are fake. With those bugs gone, we should be able to see the spot where you fell just now.”

“What’s the point of guessing? Let’s go take a look.” The fat man strode toward the torchlight outside the door, and I followed right behind.

As soon as we reached the threshold, we saw a few more stone bugs scuttling across the floor. The fat man bent down and casually snatched up two of them.

“Damn, these things are heavy. Maybe they really are stone.” He handed me one. I took it warily, still uneasy. The bug’s six long legs were surprisingly strong—if I didn’t grip it tightly, it would have escaped. The stone bug wasn’t large, only about the size of three fingernails, but its legs were unusually long. I couldn’t tell if it was more like a spider or something else. I turned it over and saw its belly was white and soft, so perhaps the stones were just attached to its back. As I studied it, I noticed a slightly darker patch on its pale underside—it looked strangely familiar, but the dim light made it impossible to see clearly. I asked the fat man, “Any idea how we can take this thing out with us?”

He grinned, and with six sharp snaps, he broke off the bug’s legs. Then he stuffed the bug into his back pocket. “Done.”

Many of the torches in the corridor outside had burned out, and the floor was crawling with stone bugs. Still, there weren’t enough to pose a threat to the fat man. As he lit new torches, he stomped on one bug after another. Stepping on their backs did nothing; he’d use his toe to flip them over, then smash their bellies. Watching his nimble footwork, I wondered if he’d learned ballet as a child. But looking at his burly figure, I had to laugh at my own thought.

My amusement didn’t last. As more torches lit up, the area before and above us became clearer. At first, due to the lighting, I only noticed the mountain wall and stone ceiling had vanished, leaving a long, narrow black strip before us. But soon, white shapes began to emerge from the darkness, floating in my line of sight.

I stared at the pale shadows swaying overhead for a long time, unable to make out what they were. They seemed to dangle in midair, drifting in the void. Beyond us, both above and ahead, lay an even larger space, shrouded in darkness. The torchlight couldn’t penetrate it at all—even my flashlight beam vanished into the gloom, with only those white shadows still swaying.

“I found it!” the fat man suddenly shouted in excitement. I hurried over. Sure enough, behind where the mountain wall had been, a staircase leading upward was hidden.

“This is the staircase to the main tomb?” I asked, excitement rising in me.

“Hell yeah, it is! This time we won’t die trapped down here again,” the fat man shouted, nearly beside himself with excitement. I wondered why he said “again.”

At last, the weight on my chest eased as I saw the stone steps before us. I was about to smile, when I suddenly thought of Peanut. I couldn’t help but turn and look back at the black iron door. If only he could push that door open and walk out to us now.

The fat man must have guessed what I was thinking. “Don’t dwell on it. No matter what, at least the kid didn’t die for nothing. Besides, we only saw him get trapped—things don’t always turn out how we expect. Maybe he’s already found his own way out.”

I told myself that was the only way to think of it.

Neither of us wanted to linger any longer. The fat man slung on his backpack, grabbed a torch, and shoved his dagger back into his pant leg. “Sixth Master Yuan always looked out for me on the way here. This time, Fatty will return the favor. If we find him alive, I’ll carry him out myself. If he’s dead, I’ll make sure he gets a proper burial.”

“Could you talk a little less?” I muttered. Having gotten used to his irreverent manner, I didn’t bother to argue with him.

Before climbing the steps, I glanced behind them and saw that the rock beneath stretched off into deeper darkness, where the wind seemed even stronger. I only took one step before losing my nerve. Who knew what lay beyond? Curiosity aside, I had neither the time nor the courage to explore further.

We started up the stairs, and for once, nothing lurked on either side. The sensation reminded me of when Peanut and I came down from the fork in the road earlier. This time, at least, the stairs were solid and wide enough to ease my mind.

After we’d gone some distance, I glanced back. The burial corridor behind us was now just a faint streak of light in the blackness. The black door was still barely visible, and for a moment, I thought I saw it move. Perhaps it was just my imagination.

“Sorry...” I sighed inwardly and continued on after the fat man.

After a while, I figured we should be able to see those white shadows again, so I looked up. Something felt wrong: the shapes seemed as high as before, just as indistinct as ever.

I asked the fat man, “Hey, do you see what those white shadows are?”

He stopped, looked around for a long time, and said nothing.

“What are you doing?” I thought he was going to start messing with me.

But he turned to me with a strange look. “What did you want me to see?”

“The white shadows hanging all around us—look, they’re everywhere.” I pointed them out.

Suddenly, I noticed his expression wasn’t right. He looked up again. “Am I malnourished, or are you seeing things? There aren’t any white shadows.”

“You—you can’t see them?” I thought it was impossible. “They’re everywhere—there must be hundreds, all above us. I saw them back in the burial corridor, too.”

He frowned, puzzled, and looked again, but still shook his head. “Miss Yuan, if you’re trying to scare Fatty, you’re not doing a great job.”

“Who has time to scare you?” I protested, but cold sweat was already breaking out on my back. Was I really just imagining things? Suddenly, I remembered what had happened in the cocoon chamber. “Fatty, check the back of my neck—see if there’s anything there, something red. Look carefully.”

I turned around. He leaned in to check. “Nothing... Wait, you really see something above us? Make sure.”

An uneasy feeling crept over me. I looked up again, and the white shapes were still spinning above. But the longer I stared, the more afraid I became.

The fat man must have seen the look on my face, because after a long pause, he said, “Actually, I’ve been thinking, maybe there’s a reason I can’t see them.”

“What do you mean?” I looked at him.

He seemed to be recalling something. After a while, he said, “When we came in with Stray Dog and your father, I noticed Sixth Master Yuan kept looking up for no reason. I thought maybe there were murals or carvings overhead, but whenever I looked, there was nothing. Still, your dad’s expression back then—damn, it was just like yours now. I asked him what he saw, but he just smiled and said he was lost in thought. But I knew something was off, because he looked up like that too many times. And the look on his face—he was seeing something, that much I’m sure.”

Chilled to the core by his words, I felt an even deeper sense of dread.

“And your blood just now—it worked way too well. I’m starting to think there’s something about your Yuan family and this place.”

I frowned, cursing under my breath. “What the hell is going on here?”

The fat man patted me. “Let’s just ignore it all. If you see anything else, pretend you didn’t. No point wasting more time.” After a moment, he added, “But if you spot a pretty female ghost, let me know.”

I wasn’t in the mood for jokes, but had no choice except to keep climbing. After what happened in the cocoon chamber, I didn’t dare look up again—I kept my eyes fixed on the fat man’s back the whole way.