Xiao Taos Geistergeschichten (Vollversion)

Kapitel 37

The swamp-like sound came from the partially exposed throat.

While it's uncertain whether zombies can feel pain, it's clear that the intense yang blood has a similar effect on them. However, the zombie's reaction is significantly weaker than the paper figure's; it's unclear whether Ling Li's blood supply will be sufficient to completely subdue it.

It was just a little blood foam, and the gray smoke disappeared completely in no time. Seeing that the situation was about to be reversed again, Tao Rujiu took a deep breath and thrust his sword at the zombie's right rib.

The feeling of the blade piercing through the corpse was somewhat like slicing through a shriveled eggplant box; it didn't have the hardness it appeared on the surface. Just as Tao Rujiu's scalp tingled at this sensation, a series of ripples, similar to water, suddenly appeared beneath the zombie's dark skin. It resembled the way martial arts masters in period dramas circulated their inner energy through their meridians.

But at this very moment, what flows inside those weathered pipes is mercury.

The zombie was channeling all the mercury in its body through its blood vessels and meridians to the spot where the sword had pierced it. Tao Rujiu even saw those silvery-white particles fall out of the wound in the zombie's throat and then cling tightly to the blade.

Soon, the peach wood blade was encased in a hard shell, rendering it completely ineffective in warding off evil.

Tao Rujiu was immediately frightened again. He thought of drawing his sword, but as soon as he exerted force on his wrist, he heard a "crack" sound from the sword.

The peach wood sword broke instantly.

"What do we do?!"

Tao Rujiu stared blankly at the broken sword in his hand. The next second, he was sent flying by the zombie's powerful swing and crashed into Qin Huakai, who was lying unconscious on the ground!

The sudden pain made Hua Kai whimper, as if he was about to wake up. Tao Rujiu, fearing that he would be dragged into the chaos again, hurriedly crawled away.

"You're asking for it!!"

Ignoring the pain and the illogicality of the statement, Ling Li immediately rushed forward and pressed down with both hands on the half of the broken sword that was still "embedded" in the corpse, trying to force it to be inserted again.

Among ordinary people, he was indeed quite strong, but faced with this non-human monster, he couldn't judge him by ordinary standards. The blade slowly penetrated another inch, as if hitting a metal plate. But the zombie didn't change at all. On the contrary, getting too close to the zombie's sharpness once again put him in a dangerous situation.

Ling Li had reason to believe that just one more blow would render him completely immobile—or even kill him. In desperation, he bit his tongue and spat out the blood.

The zombie flinched at the spit, and Ling Li seized the opportunity to loosen his grip on the blade. At the same time, Tao Rujiu dropped his broken sword and ran over, working together to pry open the zombie's silver mask. The mask seemed to be the zombie's Achilles' heel; as Tao Rujiu twisted it, the zombie's limbs twitched involuntarily.

Taking advantage of the situation, Ling Li freed one hand and stabbed the broken wood with his palm. The blood that flowed out was channeled into the zombie's body through the decorative blood groove on the blade.

This move was indeed more effective than the thin layer of blood mist from before. The large patches of flesh around the peach wood immediately turned from blackish-purple to dark grayish-green, mixing with dark red blood to form a disgusting fluid that hung down along the veins and bones that had not yet decayed. The mercury that could not be moved in time leaked out from the ever-widening opening, shimmering like a waterfall under the torchlight.

Tao Rujiu became even more determined to remove the mask, while Ling Li used his blood-stained hands to press down on the zombie's claws. Although the zombie tried its best to shake off the two, the corrosive blood made it almost unable to truly resist.

After an unknown amount of time, Tao Rujiu suddenly felt his hand loosen, and he staggered back four or five steps. It turned out that the mask had finally been pried off, but he had accidentally let it slip from his hand, rolled a few times on the ground, and landed some distance away.

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Ling Li let go of her hand, stumbled over, and hugged Tao Rujiu tightly.

The zombie, now masked, began to sway, and the stench of decay in the air intensified. This should have been a moment of respite, yet Tao Rujiu and Ling Li stared in astonishment.

The corpse that had lost its mask did not fall down immediately.

At this moment, it struggled like a loach that had been beheaded, forcefully bending its waist, which had been stiff for hundreds of years, little by little, making a strange "creaking" sound.

It wants to retrieve the mask. But compared to a mudfish clinging to life, the zombie's motive for finding the mask seems more complex. Perhaps by retrieving the mask before completely turning to dust, the zombie can regain its power.

For zombies, the mask has become part of them, and they can detect it no matter how far away it is.

After several severe jolts, the zombie had unknowingly found the mask's position. It staggered over and stretched its arm straight down to the ground.

Tao Rujiu's heart was pounding in his chest, and Ling Li, who was holding him tightly, was at a loss for what to do. Was the mask they had worked so hard to remove going to be so easily reattached to the zombie's face? Were they both destined to be buried in this dark underground cave by this unkillable monster?

no way!

Their intertwined hands conveyed a shared sentiment, which grew even stronger after experiencing a harrowing ordeal!

Tao Rujiu suddenly shook off Ling Li's hand, rushed forward and kicked the mask away. In the darkness, a series of metallic scraping sounds could be heard, and the mask flew another two or three meters away. At the same time, Ling Li followed and abruptly pulled Tao Rujiu into the shadows to the side.

The zombie, unable to obtain the mask, roared madly once more. At this moment, it could no longer care about Tao and Ling's presence, because a pale, thin hand suddenly emerged from the darkness, pressed down on a corner of the mask along the ground, and slowly dragged it into the shadows.

It was Qin Huakai. He was still awakened by the noise. The first thing he saw after waking up was the mask that had fallen at his feet.

A strangely familiar mask, the one his lover never broke. A tremor ran through the boy's heart, and he slowly limped to his feet. No one revealed the identity of the highly decomposed corpse before him. But he had a feeling: this was the body of the person who had held him in their arms and cherished him day and night hundreds of years ago.

Meanwhile, following the scent of the mask, the zombie was already in front of Qin Huakai in the blink of an eye.

To Ling Li and Tao Rujiu's surprise, it did not immediately snatch the mask away, but instead silently lowered its head and looked at the boy in front of it with a pair of cloudy, exposed eyes.

Does his nearly decaying brain still retain fragments of past love?

Nobody knows, yet we can't help but speculate.

Qin Huakai's eyes widened as well. In the dim light, he tried to discern a familiar face from the decaying features. It was Dong Li Bupo's face. Even though his lover's spirit had remained by his side all these years, he hadn't seen that face hidden beneath the mask for a hundred years.

In an instant, even Tao Rujiu and Ling Li couldn't help but feel sad for this love that spanned a century. However, they both forgot that the corpse in front of them, which was about to decompose completely, was not the real Dongli Bupo.

A zombie is a zombie, an inanimate object awakened by magic, whose only purpose is to kill.

Meanwhile, Qin Huakai's true lover was on the other side of the magic circle, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Don't go near it! The flower is blooming!!!"

Just as Qi Linpo was finding it increasingly difficult to defend himself, the ghost in battle suddenly withdrew its fierce attack.

Dongli Bupo transformed into a gust of wind and rushed into the tomb, roaring as it crashed against the barrier that was almost like an electric grid to it.

"The flower is blooming! Don't go near it!"

Qi Linpo hurriedly looked behind him and saw the scene that shocked and pained him.

In the dim red light deep within the tomb, the tall and ugly zombie suddenly raised its hand and plunged its skeletal left hand straight into Qin Huakai's chest!

"No... Ah!!!"

At this moment, Tao Rujiu didn't know whether he should believe his eyes. Even in the dim light, he could still clearly see Qin Huakai's frail body twitch twice, and then slowly lean backward and fall to the ground.

There wasn't a single scream. The boy was always quiet and didn't even know how to resist.

Or perhaps, even now, they still don't understand why the person they love most would treat them this way.

Dark red blood slowly gathered around him, like the wings of death, taking away his life force.

This wasn't the first death Tao Rujiu had witnessed, yet it filled him with immense sorrow. This quiet, pitiful young man was about to end his short life in such a way. Who could bear to hold grudges about past grievances and wrongs now?

Before me is nothing more than a young man scarred by love, an ordinary man who has been separated from his lover for hundreds of years and has been waiting in solitude for hundreds of years.

Putting aside the unpleasant memories of that night, what exactly did Qin Huakai do? What mistakes did he make? From beginning to end, he was just a small blade of grass with no control over his own destiny.

Tao Rujiu closed his eyes, yet he could not hold back his tears. He could hear sharp, indistinct laments all around him. And a voice a thousand times more sorrowful than theirs was rushing towards him from the entrance of the tomb not far away.

The spell's barrier sparked with a series of intermittent flashes of light and shadow upon impact with Dong Li Bu Po. Qi Lin Po quickly dispelled the magic array, and the ghost flew swiftly to his fallen lover's side. "It succeeded," Qi Lin Po calmly interrupted him, "but this place is about to collapse. We must leave!"

As if to confirm this statement, the murals in the tomb began to fall down in a rustling sound, followed by the large and small rotten wooden beams and the banners for summoning souls on the tomb ceiling. These were all minor matters. The destruction of Dongli Bupo's body would change the feng shui of the entire Hailing City, and one of the most direct consequences would be that the underground water would soon submerge the tomb and the sea god temple outside it.

If they don't leave in time, the three of them will also perish in this deep underground tomb!

"Hurry, hurry!"

Qi Linpo had already arrived at the tomb entrance and used magic to support the entrance, while urging the other two on.

Tao Rujiu hurriedly asked, "Where are the flowers blooming?"

Ling Li sighed sharply: "This is the best ending for them..."

Tao Rujiu was stunned. The bitterness he had been suppressing suddenly surged up again, but there was no time for him to savor it. In the blink of an eye, the blue bricks in the tomb chamber began to fall down with a crackling sound, and finally even the huge stone pillars used for support began to shake.

"If we don't leave now, we'll be buried alive!" Qi Linpo urged again, knowing he probably wouldn't last much longer. Tao Rujiu and Ling Li took one last look at Dong Libupo, who was still kneeling in place, tightly embracing his lover's body, and finally had no choice but to leave.

However, before they had taken more than a few steps, a deafening roar suddenly came from outside the tomb, sounding somewhat like a tall building exploding.

"Oh no!" Ling Li realized, "The flood has destroyed the Temple of Poseidon!"

Before the words were even finished, the entire tomb was struck by an even stronger impact. Air was forced into the tomb by the water flow, creating a gale that sent sand and stones flying everywhere. Qi Linpo cried out "Oh no!" and rushed outside the tomb to stop the water from pouring down. Ling Li grabbed Tao Rujiu's hand at just the right moment, about to pull the young man into his arms, when unexpectedly a horizontal log fell from above, its end striking his right leg.

With a muffled groan, Ling Li knelt down, nearly dragging Tao Rujiu to the ground as well. When he tried to get up, he discovered that he had lost all feeling in his right leg.

"Go quickly!" He decisively shook off Tao Rujiu's hand. "I can't move, you need to leave now!"

"No!" Tao Rujiu suddenly grabbed Ling Li's arm. "I won't leave you here!" With that, she forcefully dragged the man toward the tomb entrance.

In the dim light, Ling Li couldn't see Tao Rujiu's face clearly, but he could feel the immense determination and strength contained in the hand that was gripping him.

At that moment, he suddenly felt that something heavy in his heart had finally been put down. In this dark and dilapidated deep cave tomb, he felt a sense of rebirth.

"Neither of us will stay here..." Ling Li gripped his lover's hand tightly. "Let's go out together!"

The surrounding rocks had already formed a ten-centimeter-thick layer, and the magical barrier was gradually disappearing. Tao Rujiu didn't know where he got the strength to support Ling Li, who was heavier than him and almost immobile; at the same time, he could clearly feel Ling Li trying to keep up with his pace, using his still-functioning hands to deflect falling objects from the air.

The two walked hand in hand out of the tomb. Looking back one last time, Dongli Bupo had already laid Huakai's body down. He raised his head, gazing into the distance, his eyes filled with complex tenderness and sorrow.

Whether it was his imagination or not, in the darkness, the mural of the unharmed white-clad boy suddenly emitted a hazy light, and then, the blurry outline of a boy slowly emerged.

Was that the soul of Hua Kai? With their cooperation and the cover of Qi Lin Po's magical power, the two finally climbed dozens of steps and emerged from the tomb. However, as soon as they left the tomb, they were stunned by the scene before them.

They remembered that they were standing at the highest point of the entire Poseidon Temple, but the dark, densely packed sea beneath their feet was gone. Instead, a huge body of water, glowing with an eerie blue light, roared and surged less than ten meters away from them.

The water flow was actually far higher than the top of the temple, but it was barely blocked by the Qilin Po's shield. The crest of the tide looked like the head of a rattlesnake in a fit of rage, looking down at Tao Ling and the other person from above. The ruins of the Sea God Temple floated on the water, and the fragmented clay sculptures slowly dissolved into a murky mess.

Qi Linpo had already stood in front of the white marble steps built on the cave wall by his predecessors, gripping the railing with one hand and resisting the enormous force of the water flow with all his might.

"Quick, get up here!!" he shouted at the two people who had just emerged from the tomb.

Tao Rujiu helped Ling Li run up the steps, while the floodwaters seemed to follow them upwards as if they were alive. The violent air currents stirred up rotten wood and splashed water droplets like bullets, carving marks on the cave walls. The sudden increase in air pressure made it difficult to breathe.

After the three reunited, they stumbled and climbed up the cave wall, which was about ten meters high. When they were standing just above the water level, Qi Linpo suddenly groaned and collapsed. The magic barrier immediately failed, and the floodwaters beneath his feet roared like a collapsing cliff.

In an instant, dust, wood chips, and brick fragments flew everywhere. Tao Rujiu and Ling Li immediately crouched down, gripping the railing tightly with one hand and protecting Qi Linpo in the middle. The roar of the water grew louder and louder in their ears, their vision was completely black, and they could no longer feel the pain, only a chill that penetrated to their very core.

After about fifteen minutes of turbulent waves, the sound of the tide gradually subsided, and the water seemed to have found an outlet, becoming calm again.

Qi Linpo opened his eyes and found Tao Rujiu and Ling Li clinging tightly to him, one hand gripping the railing, the other clasped together. At that moment, the two of them were looking into the distance, where the passage that had been blocked by rubble had been completely washed away by the flood.

Tao Rujiu murmured to himself, "I think I saw it..."

“It’s moonlight.” Ling Li firmly clung to his shoulder.

The three people, supporting each other, descended the steps and walked along the rocks rising above the water toward the light. At their feet lay the deep, cold waters of the underground river. But the fierce aura had vanished without a trace, and deep within these underground waters lay a pair of lovers who had been entwined for hundreds of years.

"It's all over now..." someone whispered.

At the end of the cave, what lay before them was the sea, a deep blue, boundless sea.