Histoires de fantômes

Chapitre 232

I didn't want to say anything, so I turned the key and the engine roared to life.

Gu Qingcheng's face was hidden in the darkness, her expression unseen. I suddenly felt an overwhelming longing for Su Lun. Perhaps there would never be another girl in the world willing to fight and shed blood for me; only she could do it, but now she's missing. If I hadn't stayed at Fengge Temple because of Guan Baoling, and had instead stayed by her side, she probably wouldn't have disappeared.

My face suddenly started to burn, and I realized how ridiculous I had been. I had been so blinded by a single leaf that I couldn't see the forest for the trees, and I had missed the girl who was most devoted to me.

"Miss Gu, if anything happens to me, please take your men and keep going, and help me find Su Lun." At this moment, Su Lun's image in my mind grew taller and more profound, occupying every inch of my thoughts.

Red Devil leaped onto the passenger seat, looking disdainfully at the people in the car to the side: "Hey, if we bring back a car full of golden treasures, please don't rush up and try to steal them, okay? You're so scared just because you heard there are snakes. You might as well just get lost and go home. It's much safer to stay under the covers."

He picked up the walkie-talkie on the dashboard and laughed mischievously at Uncle Wei: "Haha, if you hear me calling for help, remember to come and save us right away! Otherwise, even if I turn into a nameless demon under the snake's kiss, I will never let you go."

I floored the gas pedal, and the car slowly started moving. The beam of light moved horizontally across the black stone wall, eventually pointing deep into the entrance. From this vantage point, all I could see was a flat, black ground.

"Wait a minute, I'm going too." Kaku jumped off the vehicle, walked over steadily, climbed onto the carriage, and grabbed the rapid-fire machine gun.

Red Devil turned his head to look at him, obediently shut his mouth, and stopped making sarcastic jokes.

Knowing there are tigers in the mountains, yet still venturing into the tiger's den—that's true courage. Kaku's joining the team touched me slightly. As a professional shooter, he should be able to remain calm and assess the situation clearly, and there's no need for him to help me. At a crucial moment, a foreigner can stand firmly on the side of justice, while his own Chinese compatriots "wisely" choose the path of self-preservation. This is undeniably a dark and unfunny situation.

The car was moving slowly in first gear. I was only using my left hand to control the steering wheel, while my right hand hung down on my thigh, ready to draw my gun at any moment.

Red Devil fumbled for the switch on the control panel, and the record player started playing "Yesterday Once More" by The Carpenters. The deep and melodious tune instantly changed the atmosphere in the car, and he was swaying to the music, kicking the car door to keep the beat, making a "bang bang" sound.

"I didn't expect you to be hiding such a fine knife?" I stared ahead, but glanced at the golden knife on his knee out of the corner of my eye.

"Can this really be considered a good knife?" He gripped the hilt with both hands and held it up in front of his eyes.

"I have a Japanese friend who is a master swordsmith. He once mentioned that in 1955, mainland China forged a batch of 'General's Hundred-Man Killer' swords, awarded only to those who made outstanding contributions to the country's energy research. It is said that only 108 swords were made, borrowing the story of the 108 heroes of Liangshan Marsh. Each sword is engraved with the name of a Heavenly Star or Earthly Fiend Star, and a special aerospace material was added during the forging process, which can achieve the effect of cutting iron like mud. I wonder what the engraving is on the sword you have?"

The Dragon-Slaying Saber possesses a comprehensive understanding of famous swords from all over the world. When we were together, we often drank and discussed swords, from which I benefited greatly.

"It has no name and no glorious history. Most of the time, I use it to sharpen pencils or simply as a wood-chopping knife. If you like it, feel free to take it."

He handed me the knife, on which a crimson-scaled golden dragon appeared and disappeared intermittently, its head pointing towards the tip of the blade, ferocious and grotesque, its fierce light chilling.

I'm not mistaken, it is indeed one of the "General's Hundred-Man Killer" and commands extremely high prices in several major global auction markets.

"A fine sword chooses its master; why would I want your sword?" I like swords, but this one is not suitable for me.

The beam of light relentlessly pierced the darkness, but the darkness was endless, like a stagnant, omnipresent wisp of mist. I glanced in the rearview mirror; Uncle Wei and the others' car had vanished. In the vast mountain cavern, there were only the three of us, the car, and the Carpenters' music.

"Will we die?" Kaku's English wasn't very fluent, and his tone was stiff.

"Yes, why not? Everyone can die, it just depends on whether it's heavier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather." Red Ghost huddled on the sofa, touched a tactical fighting knife that his teammate had discarded, and weighed it in his hand.

Kaku stood up, rotated the machine gun in his hand at an angle, and rubbed it against the stainless steel support below, making a strange "squeak" sound that made my eardrums feel as if they were being pricked by an embroidery needle.

"You Chinese always like to say things that don't make sense. I just want to ask Mr. Feng, is that shadow moving at high speed in the sniper scope a person or a devil?" He was serious. Snipers are usually solitary and wouldn't be in the mood to joke with Red Devil.

"That's a person." I was 100% certain.

"A person? A person who moves dozens of times faster than a glowing target?" Kaku cautiously expressed his doubts. It seems he is a pragmatic person who would not blindly deny what he saw with his own eyes, nor would he simply parrot what others say.

"I can only say with certainty that it was a person, perhaps because of some unknown reason that she reached the level of being able to teleport instantly. This world is inherently mysterious and unpredictable. Humans can create sniper weapons that can kill with a single shot within two kilometers, so of course, it must also allow some people to escape such killing, right? Survival of the fittest, the grass grows and the birds fly, nothing on Earth can escape the scope of natural selection."

This is my only explanation, because in the concept of lightness skills among Chinese martial arts masters, the ability to "travel a thousand miles in an instant" only exists in theory, and there is no authoritative written record of it.

"The next time I see her, I hope she's lucky enough to escape a barrage of three hundred bullets." Kaku slapped his ammunition belt in frustration, the steel-core bullets clashing against each other with a terrifying whooshing sound.

Red Devil stared at the machine gun with interest, a thoughtful smirk on his face. "Against a true master, you probably won't even have a chance to fire. I advise you to hide under the canvas, gun and all, and jump out to shoot when the time is right. But for a sniper like you, is it wise enough to give up your strength to defend yourself?"

Kaku frowned and pondered for a few seconds, then suddenly slapped his head and grinned, his thick lips parting in a wide smile: "You're right. We Nepalese have a proverb: 'A dog that bites doesn't bark.' I can hide and either snipe silently or suddenly jump out to unleash a barrage of machine gun fire. Good idea, good idea. Thank you, little brother!"

He pulled back a large, neatly folded canvas in the carriage to cover the machine gun. He then sat in a corner of the carriage, carefully checked the sniper rifle in his arms again, gave the little red devil an "OK" sign, pulled the canvas over, and covered himself up as well.

The little red devil whistled smugly, turned to me and asked, "How's my command ability?"

I can't answer that if that masked monster were to reappear, probably only one of Kaku and the other would survive. True masters don't engage in pointless standoffs; they appear in a dramatic, life-or-death duel.

The more skilled a person is, the less tolerant they are of their own failures. This is an advantage, but also a fatal weakness. Looking at the bulging canvas in the rearview mirror, I realized that Kaku's insistence on shooting Tang Xiaogu was largely due to his inability to snipe the masked man.

Someone once entered his sniping line of sight but escaped easily, making him lose the confidence to even pull the trigger, which is tantamount to extreme contempt for him.

"What about this time? Will Kaku succeed? You know, his sniping skills are definitely among the top ten in the world. You know, I once saw in a top-secret document that at least a hundred military observers compared him to Yang Youji, the legendary archer from ancient China, and there were plans to recruit him—"

A hint of frustration appeared on Red Devil's face. He swung his knife at the fighting knife, slicing off a section of the blade and sheath together with a soft "snap" sound, like slicing a cucumber with a kitchen knife.

"What a fine knife!" I couldn't help but exclaim again.

The fighting knife, a genuine American military product, undoubtedly boasts superior materials, but it pales in comparison to the "General's Hundred-Man Killer," falling far short in quality. This demonstrates that Chinese craftsmen's sword-making skills have always been among the best in the world.

"Feng, tell me, who could be hiding in this strange cave?" Red Imp muttered to himself, casually tossing his dagger into the darkness, where it clattered to the ground.

I keenly noticed the confusion in his eyes. And it wasn't just him who was confused; everyone in our team was caught in the mystery. Such a vast pentagram-shaped space was unprecedented in global geological history.

"I'm also curious to know who that person was? And who created this space? Moreover, it's unbelievable that such a vast ancient city is hidden deep underground—" I sighed, shifted into second gear, and increased my speed.

"Wind, are you regretting it? Regretting getting involved in this unexpected situation?" Red Devil chuckled mischievously. It seemed he often enjoyed discovering other people's unspoken thoughts.

“That’s right,” I readily admitted.

According to Tiger, we have a "correct" route to take, and we should at least get a result on that route before considering other options. This team seems too small compared to the vast unknown world. Since I disagree with Uncle Wei's arrangement for the second car to take this side road, why should I risk it again?

"Since we regret it, is there any point in moving forward?" This simple question from Hong Xiaogui contains profound philosophical wisdom.

My foot instinctively pressed the brake pedal, and the car slowly came to a stop. The steering wheel was in my hands; I controlled whether to go forward or backward, and right or wrong was just a matter of a thought.

"You're sweating?" Little Red Ghost asked nervously.

I turned the rearview mirror, and my face appeared blurry in the reflection. Actually, I didn't need the mirror; I could feel more and more beads of sweat seeping from my hair and neck, sliding deep into my collar.

A general without strategy can lead to the deaths of thousands. As a decision-maker, I understand the responsibility I bear.

Darkness lay ahead, darkness lay behind, darkness lay everywhere else, all was pitch black and eerie, as if concealing countless unspeakable dangers.

"Huh? Why did you stop? What's wrong?" Kaku emerged from the canvas.

No one answered him; only Carpenter's voice sang dryly.

The space in front is shrinking, and according to the car's odometer, it is approaching the apex of the five-pointed star.

"Mr. Feng, why did you stop?" Kaku stomped his feet in the carriage, making loud "bang bang bang" noises.

Red Devil turned around and scolded, "Stop, stop making noise! You stupid donkey—" Faced with the pressure, the two of them instantly lost their self-control, like a volcanic eruption.

Just then, I smelled a fishy odor in the air, followed by a rustling sound in my ears, like silkworms chewing mulberry leaves.

Red Devil must have heard it too, because his hand, which was pointing at Kaku's nose, suddenly stopped in mid-air, motionless like a clay sculpture.

I turned off the engine, and Carpenter's voice disappeared as well.

"You dare call me a stupid donkey? This is a great insult to us Nepalese!" Kaku was furious. He raised his spear and pressed the muzzle against the little red devil's chest.

The hissing and rustling sounds grew clearer, and Kaku stopped moving, spitting out a question through gritted teeth: "What's that?"

The answer was obvious: it was the sound of a venomous snake flicking its tongue, and only the combined movement of thousands of snakes could produce such a sound. Inside the Turkham Pyramid, I had already witnessed the "cave of ten thousand snakes" formed by Bengal golden-line vipers; this time, however, it was on flat ground, with no defensive barriers whatsoever.

“Snakes, lots and lots of snakes.” Red Devil’s chest heaved a few times as he waved his hand to push away Kaku’s gun muzzle.

Kaku snapped out of his daze, dropped his rifle, and with a backhand motion, lifted the canvas, spread his legs, and firmly gripped the machine gun. He was a seasoned gunslinger, always in a state of pre-battle excitement whenever he had a gun in hand, but this time he was facing a swarm of snakes in the darkness.

Part 5: The Blade of Distance

— Chapter 4 - The Ferocious Snake Formation —

Red Devil fumbled for the walkie-talkie and pressed the call button: "You...did you hear that? Thousands of snakes, right in front of us. This isn't a nightmare, it's real." He had become incoherent and completely lost his composure.

The field of vision remained empty; there was still no sign of the venomous snake.

My hand gripped the keys, hesitating to start the engine, because I knew that once the engine started, I would have to make a decision—"Forward or backward? If we don't understand the situation here, it will definitely create hidden dangers. If the team continues to move forward, we might be surrounded by venomous snakes at any time, and everyone will die without a burial place."

“Feng, if…why not…” Uncle Wei hesitated, unable to offer any help, not even managing a complete sentence.

"Feng, let's play it by ear. But we all understand that once we take that first step back, this operation will officially be over." Gu Qingcheng took the walkie-talkie, her voice filled with disappointment.

Red Devil held the walkie-talkie high, shouting in a hoarse voice, "Listen, listen, listen to them, they're writhing in hunger. Maybe...maybe that group just now is struggling under the bite of a snake..."

I started the engine and immediately revved the engine three times. The pungent smell of gasoline overpowered the snake odor.

"Get ready, I'm driving. We won't retreat until we see the snake formation." I made this decision because I couldn't possibly give up the opportunity to search for Suren. Compared to that, the snake formation was nothing. If I let her get trapped without offering help, I would become the most heartless, ruthless, and cowardly coward in the world.

"Brother, I will never be a coward, and I will never let you down," I murmured to myself, shifting gears and starting the car forward.

Red Devil paused for half a minute, then chuckled and climbed onto the carriage, rummaging open two ammunition boxes with a clatter.

"Feng, there are still over a hundred grenades here. If we throw them all out, it should hold them off for a while. It's a pity we don't have any napalm or flamethrowers; those would be the most effective weapons to eliminate Viper."

Suddenly, the fear in the car vanished, and the immense pressure transformed into a driving force for relentless charge. Only true warriors, true men, could do this. I'm so glad, because Red Devil and Kaku are exactly those kinds of people.

"The word 'fear' has never existed in our Nepalese dictionary. We are the masters of the snow-capped mountains, the descendants of the eagles, possessing an unwavering will like that of an iceberg..." Kaku murmured, reciting the scriptures belonging to that snow-capped mountain people.

The vehicle advanced one hundred meters and began to slowly climb the slope. The sides and ceiling rapidly narrowed, revealing a three-meter square opening ahead. This should be the location where the team members in the second vehicle reported to Uncle Wei, which is also the apex of the pentagram. Next, that will be the beginning of the second pentagram.

"Wind, there seems to be light over there at the cave entrance?" the little red devil whispered. His voice, mixed with the increasingly loud hissing sound, made him sound even more timid.

Before he could remind me, I had already seen the white light emanating from the cave entrance. However, it was definitely not from a searchlight, but a milky white light, like smoke or mist, which was not dazzling at all.

“We—” I swallowed hard and made the final decision, “Let’s go up.”

The jeep slowly climbed up to the cave entrance, which was a platform about ten meters long. We could see what was ahead without the help of a searchlight.

Red Devil jumped up with a "Ah!" and pointed forward, but he forgot that he was holding a grenade in his palm. With this gesture, he threw it out with a "whoosh," and it flew for about ten meters before landing silently, because the ground was surging and undulating with snakes.

"Fortunately... I didn't activate the fuse, the grenade won't explode... it won't explode..." He lost the ability to speak fluently, his tongue was almost stiff, he maintained the posture of pointing forward, and his other hand was tightly gripping the crossbeam at the front of the carriage.

"Wind...wind, wind...I,I,I..." He clenched his teeth, uttering each word one by one, while gasping for breath and hissing like a snake spitting its tongue.

Kaku was in slightly better shape than Red Devil, but the machine gun was still trembling and making a "clack-clack, clack-clack-clack" sound. He was still standing with his legs apart, but his trouser legs were shaking like withered leaves in the wind.

The stone wall in front of me emitted a faint white light, stretching into the distance. Within my field of vision, there were green snakes, each thicker than an adult's arm, writhing and intertwining. I could clearly see that each snake had a pair of almost transparent wings at its "seven-inch" spot.

The vertical distance from the snake formation to the platform where our car is located is about ten meters. In the short term, they will not climb onto the platform and pass through the dark passage behind us to directly threaten Gu Qingcheng and her people.

I reached into my left breast pocket and found a pack of Wrigley's gum. I tried to keep smiling and said, "Don't be nervous, everyone. Having a piece of gum at this time can help you relax and face the difficulties more clearly."

Kaku reached out, his withered fingers pinching two pieces of chewing gum. He picked them up twice, but each time they trembled and fell. He was so nervous that the muscles in his cheeks clenched and spasmed, and his forehead was covered with streaks of dust from sweat.

I peeled open two strips of chewing gum and put them into the mouths of Red Devil and Kaku respectively. I calmly smiled and watched them chew them woodenly twenty or thirty times, until the tense lines on their faces gradually relaxed.

"Just now, it felt like the first time I shot someone on the battlefield in East Africa. Sorry," Kaku said, wiping away sweat. Thankfully, the tense situation didn't trigger his epilepsy, and things didn't get out of control.

Research by American psychologists shows that chewing gum can release human tension to the greatest extent. Therefore, on the battlefield, the two things that every American soldier cannot do without are, firstly, chewing gum, and secondly, firearms.

"How are you?" I patted the little red devil on the shoulder.

"I felt like throwing up, I almost couldn't hold it in—but I feel much better now. After all, you wouldn't see so many snakes tangled together in any zoo. I suspect this is a large snake enclosure, whether it belongs to the military or civilians. What do you think?"

The little devil regained his cheerful expression, which finally put my mind at ease.