Vollständiges Metamorphose-Handbuch

Kapitel 24

I became suspicious and counted the steps; there were exactly twenty-seven. At first glance, this number seemed meaningless, but upon closer reflection, I couldn't help but feel a chill run down my spine, realizing that this white jade platform was probably no ordinary structure.

At the end of the stone steps, there was still a white jade railing about a meter high, still carved with exceptionally beautiful patterns. Looking through the railing, the three of us couldn't help but take a step back in fright. I was standing right next to the steps, and with that step, I lost my footing. If the young master hadn't pulled me up, I would have almost fallen.

In my entire life, even seeing a professor whose corpse had been activated had never filled me with such terror. But this time, I almost felt the urge to slit my own throat again. What was that thing? Inside the white jade railing was a concave cube, resembling a giant octahedral container. Yes, it was an octahedron, much like a Bagua diagram, with a bronze figure guarding each side. A long iron chain wound around the hands of each bronze figure, connecting them in the middle, and at the point where the chains converged, a simple, ancient longsword was wrapped around it; judging from its surface, it also appeared to be a bronze sword.

There was no coffin or ancient corpse here. It seemed that the strangely shaped iron chain was trying to lock up this ancient bronze sword.

And we could clearly see that every bronze figure surrounding the ancient bronze sword wore a hideous and terrifying smile. Just like the smiles of Wang Quansheng and Shan Jun after their deaths. I never knew that a person could smile so strangely, so terrifyingly.

Of course, that alone wouldn't have been enough to scare me to the point of slitting my own throat. On each of the eight sides of that bronze sword, which was bound by layers of iron chains, lay a monster—a monster I couldn't describe or explain what it was.

Is it a person, an insect, or a ghost?

Their heads were those of normal humans, only deathly pale. Like the bronze humanoid figures, they wore狰狞恐怖 (zhengning kongbu - ferocious and terrifying) smiles. However, their bodies were those of insects, much like the caterpillars we usually see, only magnified many times over. Now, when we shone our flashlights on them, the eight insectoids stirred. The one closest to me even raised its head towards me.

The moment it raised its head, the girl couldn't hold back any longer and cried out in surprise. My hands and feet went cold. In that instant when the insect-like creature raised its head, I finally saw its other side clearly—it also had a head, a head exactly like a human face. The two heads were squeezed together, one in front of the other. I really couldn't describe what this thing was.

Two-faced insectoid?

"Are they alive?" The young master, usually so bold, stammered as he spoke. Though he held a crossbow in his hand, he couldn't help but tremble.

I can tell that this thing is the same one that silently climbed up the girl's back just now. If that's the case, it's not difficult to deal with. Eight two-faced insect-men, the young master can kill them one by one with an arrow, clean and efficient.

I don't know if it was because of those faces with their hideous and terrifying smiles, but I felt an indescribable panic and just wanted to turn around and run away.

"Let's go!" After all, these insectoids living underground are no ordinary beings. I hesitated for a moment, then decided it was unnecessary to provoke them and decisively said so.

The girl, pale-faced, nodded. The young master, equally frightened, said nothing. Just as the three of us were about to turn around, we heard a continuous creaking sound behind us.

Oh no! I knew something was wrong, and when I turned around, I was stunned. The white jade steps we had just climbed were now completely blocked by countless crisscrossing, spiderweb-like things, and on each spiderweb lurked a two-faced insect-man. I didn't know when they had appeared behind us and silently spun so many spiderwebs on our backs.

"Squeak..." The two-faced insectoid made a sound like a rat again. But to me, it sounded like a ghost grinding its teeth in the middle of the night, devouring human flesh and bones...

"Bang!" The young master shot a bamboo arrow at the nearest two-faced insect-men. He had already shot one while rescuing the girl, and this time the distance was much closer, and he didn't need to worry about the girl, so he was very confident. However, the bamboo arrow got stuck in the spider web and couldn't advance any further. The two-faced insect-men opposite him squeaked twice, seemingly mocking their helplessness.

"What...what should we do?" The young master was dumbfounded on the spot.

I never expected this spider web to be so sticky. If it can stop bamboo arrows, it can certainly entangle us and kill us too. Now that our escape route is blocked, what should we do?

Before I could finish my thought, the girl let out a scream and frantically stomped her feet. Startled, I looked down and was utterly terrified. Without my noticing, our feet were now covered in a dense web of spiderweb-like creatures. The girl kept stomping, but the webs were so sticky that she couldn't shake them off.

"Go inside!" I decided immediately. Since the retreat was blocked, the only way out was to go inside.

But the moment I turned around, I discovered that the once empty, enormous octagonal container was now filled with white spiderwebs. How stupid of me! If this thing could block our escape route, it must be their lair inside. Why would they allow us to enter?

In that instant, everything around us turned white, filled with white spiderwebs. Through the webs, I could see countless two-faced insectoids constantly spitting out white, thread-like objects, filling the entire space.

"Brother Xu, think of something quickly!" Ya Dou cried anxiously. For some reason, this girl seemed to rely on me a lot.

But I need a way out! This stuff is so sticky, getting out is practically impossible. What can I possibly do? To get out, we have to break through these spiderweb-like things. But these two-faced insectoids seem to have already considered us as food. I don't believe they'll let us go so easily once we're stuck in their webs.

In the instant I hesitated, we were surrounded by layers upon layers of spiderwebs, making even the slightest movement difficult. In that instant, the young master had already fired several bamboo arrows, but these insect-men were too cunning; they avoided direct confrontation, hiding only within the spiderwebs. The young master's arrows were all blocked by the dense spiderwebs, failing to harm a single two-faced insect-man.

Taking this opportunity, we got a clear look at her. This two-faced insectoid didn't spit out spider silk from its mouth, but rather drew it from its tail. Each strand of silk was as thick as a vermicelli seed, incredibly sticky, and spun at an astonishing speed. A two-faced insectoid could weave a web in about a second. This speed was simply unbelievable!

Now I understand why that insect-like creature could climb onto the girl's back so silently. With that kind of speed, what can't it do?

"They want to trap us..." the young master said in terror.

I understand that these insectoids want to trap us. They hide among layers of spiderwebs, and have completely filled the space around us with spider webs, leaving us no room to move. In time, they'll surely trap us to death.

Suddenly, an idea struck me. "Young Master, do you have a lighter on you?"

“Yes…” The young master hurriedly reached for his lighter. In the instant we spoke, the spiderwebs around us became even denser; in fact, even through the flashlight, I could no longer see the scenery beside me. Fortunately, these insect-men seemed quite wary of the bamboo arrow in the young master's hand and dared not entangle themselves with spider silk. Otherwise, we would probably be like flies caught in a spiderweb, struggling and flapping our wings with no other option.

"Yes, use fire, use fire to burn it..." the maid hurriedly shouted.

The young master frantically pulled out a lighter, but since we had all been in the water, the lighter was naturally soaked. He frantically struck it many times, until a small green flame finally appeared in our hopeful eyes. He then quickly brought the lighter close to the nearest spiderweb.

Under our hopeful gaze, the green flame burned for a while, and then we heard a soft "snap"—the spider silk had finally snapped. But then the young master's lighter went out with a "snap." He quickly flicked it several times to relight it, and asked, "Old Xu, do you have anything to start a fire?"

"Something to start a fire?" I wrung out my wet, dripping clothes and smiled wryly. "You see, there's not a dry spot on me. Where would I find anything to start a fire?"

"What should we do?" the girl asked anxiously. The situation was stark: the spider silk was afraid of fire. If there were a strong open flame, breaking through this inescapable net would be no problem. But now that we were soaking wet, relying on a small lighter, there was absolutely no chance of getting out.

The young master and I both shook our heads. Suddenly, the young master asked, "Old Xu, don't you have a lighter on you too?"

I smiled wryly. My lighter was just a disposable item; one dunk and it would be ruined. The young master's lighter, on the other hand, seemed to be a famous imported brand, waterproof and windproof; otherwise, it probably wouldn't be useful either. The girl's large, bright eyes reflected the lighter in the young master's hand, shining exceptionally brightly, even with a hint of eeriness. She stared intently at the ancient bronze sword bound by layers of iron chains within the octagonal concave body.

"Ah..." she suddenly exclaimed, "Brother Xu, I understand! The sword, that sword is the core of the formation. As long as we get that sword, we can get out."

A sword? I turned to look at the ancient bronze sword, which was wrapped in layers of iron chains and entangled in countless spider webs. After thinking for a moment, I gritted my teeth and said, "I'll give it a try, young master. You take care of the girl." Although I didn't understand why the girl said that getting that ancient sword would give us a way out, we were trapped here anyway, and we were all doomed to die. I might as well listen to the girl and take a gamble.

These two-faced insect-men looked disgusting and terrifying, but so far, apart from weaving webs, they hadn't launched any proactive attacks. The young master handed me two bamboo arrows from his back and whispered, "Old Xu, be very careful."

I took the bamboo arrow and simply nodded. The spider silk was incredibly sticky; to be honest, I had absolutely no confidence. Time was running out, and I dared not hesitate for a moment. I grabbed the iron chain beside me, swayed, and leaped heavily into the air. My intention was clear: to grab the chain and swing towards the center.

The distance from the railing to the bronze sword in the middle was about four or five meters. Normally, such a distance wouldn't be much; it could be covered in just a few seconds if one wanted to. But now, I was surrounded by a dense web of spider silk. My body dangled on the chains, and before I could even move, I suddenly felt a weight on my back, as if something was tugging at me heavily. I turned around and saw that my back was now covered in spider silk, and beside me, a huge, two-faced insectoid creature with two deathly pale faces and four white eyes stared intently at me.

I glared back fiercely, gripping the chain tightly with one hand and using the bamboo arrow to flick at the spider web behind me with the other. But this stuff was no ordinary sticky stuff; it was fine if I didn't try, but the moment I did, my hand felt a sudden weight, and I almost lost the bamboo arrow. I hurriedly pulled hard, and perhaps I used too much force, because with a snap, a large chunk of the spider web behind me was pulled up, but I had already fallen into the octagonal concave area.

I hurriedly looked up, and what I saw horrified me. What I had seen from the outside as an octagonal concave structure was merely a concave shape less than ten meters in diameter. But now, having fallen inside, all I could see when I looked up was a vast expanse of white spider silk entwined around me. Looking towards the center, the ancient bronze sword was nowhere to be seen. And in an instant, the entire space seemed to have expanded countless times…

Oh no! I immediately realized that I had probably fallen into some ancient formation. If I didn't know how to break this ancient formation, I would probably be trapped and die inside.

I was extremely anxious and hurriedly looked around. But as far as the eye could see, there were dense spider webs everywhere, even my head and feet were covered with them. I could no longer see a single Double-Hundred Insect Man.

My mind was completely blank, I was so confused, and I was so exhausted that I almost closed my eyes. I was so tired, I needed to rest.

But at that moment, another voice inside me screamed wildly—No, I can't sleep, I have to get out, I have to get out, the maid and the young master are still waiting for me. With that thought, my mind cleared, and I quickly bit my tongue hard. The intense pain sent a shiver down my spine, and I instantly became fully awake.

Calm down! Calm down! I kept reminding myself that no matter what the situation, I couldn't lose my composure. Right, composure? A thought struck me. This octahedron... why did it look so familiar to me? Octahedron... octahedron... octahedron, I kept repeating to myself.

Yes, isn't this the Bagua Formation? When modern people talk about the Bagua Formation, they immediately think of Zhuge Liang from the Three Kingdoms period. But legend has it that the Bagua Formation was invented by Fuxi. Thinking of Fuxi, I can't help but recall the bronze figure with a human face and snake body in the passageway earlier. Could it be that this ancient bronze sword really comes from the legend?

I hurriedly calculated the direction I had entered the formation according to the Bagua (Eight Trigrams). Desperate, I figured I had no choice but to try it, treating it as a Bagua formation. After a moment's thought, I realized that I was originally in the antique plate business and was very interested in such things, and I also had some knowledge of Bagua divination.

After counting on my fingers like a primary school student for a long time, I finally figured it out. The place where I had just entered the formation should be the Qian position, which represents a horse, Kun represents an ox, and the Zhen position represents a dragon... Dragon, I muttered to myself as I tried to approach the center of the formation.

The surrounding area was still filled with dense spider silk, making me feel like I was walking through a net. Every step required a great deal of effort. I had taken an arrow to the shoulder from the young master, and the wound had been soaking in water for half a day, followed by a fierce battle with the nine-tailed serpent. Now, with every exertion, the wound reopened, and blood flowed out again.

I don’t know if it was because of my blood, but the two-faced insectoids that were originally guarding the Bagua Formation seemed to tremble slightly. I took the opportunity to turn around the “Li” position and go straight to the center of the formation.

Through layers of spiderwebs and in the flickering light, I could vaguely make out the rusty bronze sword in front of me.

The girl said that as long as we got the ancient bronze sword, we'd have a chance to escape. Moreover, since the material of this platform was exactly the same as the dragon coffin at the bottom of the Yellow River, didn't that mean that if we got the sword, we might have a way to break the mysterious curse at the bottom of the coffin? With this thought, my confidence soared. Ignoring the spider silk that weighed more than a thousand pounds wrapped around me, I reached out and touched the ancient bronze sword, which was tightly bound by layers of iron chains.

But at that moment, my vision blurred, and a deathly pale face with a hideous, terrifying smile appeared before me. Before I could react, I saw two jet-black fangs lunging at me with vicious force.

"Ah..." I instinctively screamed, closed my eyes, and thrust the bamboo arrow at that hideous smile I hated.

But just then, I felt a weight on my back, as if something had crawled up on me. Startled, I quickly ducked and simultaneously punched myself hard in the back. It felt like my fist had hit a lump of dough, soft, sticky, and disgusting.

Thankfully, my back felt lighter, and I finally managed to shoo the two-faced insectoid away. Before I could even catch my breath, something seemed to catch my footing. I looked down and saw two more two-faced insectoids, one on each side, their four pale, ferocious, and terrifying smiling faces charging towards me.

I screamed in fright, forgetting all my fear, and stomped down hard. Thank goodness, I was wearing thick sneakers, which, although soaked through, were still quite sturdy. With one stomp, the two two-faced insect-men let out a ghostly howl, and at the same time turned their other faces to bite at my shoes.

I cursed inwardly, "Damn it, so you're afraid of me stepping on you too?" I kicked out with all my might, sending one of the two-faced insect-like creatures rolling twice on the ground before flying away. Turns out, this thing was all show and no substance, just a scary mask. Before I could even feel smug, I felt a weight on my shoulder, followed by a sharp pain. I turned to look and was instantly terrified.

A damned two-faced insectoid, taking advantage of my inattention, launched a despicable sneak attack, biting my shoulder hard. What's worse, that's the spot where the young master shot me with an arrow. My mind went blank. I'm done for. Just thinking about that deathly pale face, the sinister grin, and those two jet-black fangs, my heart sank to the bottom.

My body was ice cold, and I felt as if life was slowly slipping away from me. In a daze, I seemed to be standing at the foot of the Great Wilderness Mountain, with the roars of wild beasts echoing in the distance.

The sky wasn't blue, and the ground wasn't yellow; all that remained was a murky expanse, like the rolling waters of the Yellow River...

The air was filled with the roars and curses of countless people, ghosts, and demons. The frenzied roar of a beast echoed right beside me. I couldn't help but turn around. Where was I? Why was I here? Finally, I clearly saw my predicament—my neck and limbs were all firmly bound by a black chain as thick as an arm, and at the other end of the chain, I saw a beast with a single horn on its head, resembling a horse. Five beasts, each facing a different direction, were connected by that black chain…

All of this reminds me of an ancient form of extreme punishment—dismemberment by five horses.

Yes, this is indeed an extreme form of execution. And right now, it seems I've become the protagonist of this execution, the one destined to be torn apart by five horses?

Startled, I forcefully raised my head. I wanted to see why I was being subjected to such extreme punishment. Hadn't China abolished this inhumane punishment long ago? But when I looked up, what I saw was a monster with four faces, wearing a golden mask, wielding a weapon I didn't recognize, sitting majestically on a beast.

At the command of the four-faced monster, the extreme punishment of being torn apart by five horses seemed to begin; I felt my body being ripped apart alive.

No! It was an illusion. My mind retained a sliver of clarity, and with a start, I snapped back to reality. Looking around, there was no monster to be seen. Beside me, the two-faced insectoid that had bitten me earlier lay sprawled on the ground, its body limp and its face deathly pale. Its once bulging body had deflated like a ruptured balloon, looking utterly hideous.

I don't understand why this vicious two-faced insect-man bit me, but it died instead. But it's better for it to die than for me to die, so I angrily kicked its limp corpse. Suddenly, I remembered that I wondered if the two-faced insect-man's teeth on the ground were poisonous. As I was thinking, I couldn't help but reach out and touch my shoulder, and unbuttoned my coat. Sure enough, next to the arrow that the young master had shot, there were two dark teeth marks.

I didn't feel any pain, numbness, or itching. However, I was still frightened and squeezed hard, hoping to expel the poisonous blood.

After squeezing for a while, only bright red blood flowed out. It seemed this two-faced insectoid was all show and no substance; it wasn't actually poisonous. As I thought this, I casually wiped the blood from my wound. I wondered, could the only purpose of this two-faced insectoid be to create this spiderweb and maintain the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams? But why did its bite give me such a strange hallucination?

As I pondered this, I glanced around. Those ferocious two-faced insectoids, having witnessed their companion fall to the ground and die, had inconsiderately retreated. And that ancient bronze sword was right in front of me, just a step away.

I took a step forward, surrounded by darkness. I couldn't see the exact shape of the ancient bronze sword clearly, but observing it up close made my heart skip a beat. For some reason, I felt an inexplicable excitement mixed with a faint sense of dread. I couldn't quite put my finger on what that feeling was.

Because the scabbard was tightly bound by layers of black iron chains, I couldn't remove it along with the scabbard; moreover, I had no tools to cut the chains. Therefore, the only way was to draw the ancient bronze sword. I trembled as I reached out and touched the bronze hilt.

My own blood still clung to my palms. My hands trembled, my heart pounding with tension—this was it. I finally gripped the hilt of the ancient bronze sword tightly, but at that moment, as if from the depths of my own heart, a desolate sigh echoed in my ears…

"Who..." I called out instinctively.

As I spoke, I looked around. But there was nothing around me... just a white, hazy spider web. Even the two-faced insectoids that had been everywhere were nowhere to be seen.

Without further hesitation, I drew the sword with all my might. It was heavy, probably due to its age and the corrosion of the bronze. I used considerable force, but couldn't pull the ancient sword from its scabbard; instead, the black iron chains rattled loudly. Anger rose within me. I thought to myself, a grown man, surely I can't even draw this broken sword?

With this anger, my strength increased exponentially. As I exerted my strength, a flash of cold light shot into the sky, and I felt a chill rushing towards me. At the same time, I faintly heard a sigh again—desolate and helpless.

Sword drawn!

In an instant, a desolate and tragic feeling surged into my heart. The sounds of war drums and roars of galloping horses echoed in my ears once more, and I seemed to vaguely see countless people falling before my eyes. The desolation of the ancient battlefield pierced my heart.

Fearing I would fall into the illusion again, I quickly closed my eyes and calmed myself. But just then, I clearly heard a sigh again, and it seemed as if someone was saying: "The Eight Trigrams and the Sixty-Year Cycle, Divine Secrets and Ghostly Tricks, Transformation into Serpents and Dragon Bones, Heaven and Earth incomplete..."

I couldn't hear the rest clearly. I only felt the sword in my hand seem to leap, as if it had come to life. Instinctively, I gripped it tightly and then slashed fiercely at the layers of iron chains that bound the scabbard.

With a clang, I severed the oddly shaped iron chain with a single sword stroke. The scabbard, now unsupported, plummeted to the ground, and I quickly caught it.

Only then did I have time to examine the ancient sword in my hand closely. The blade was over three feet long, the same length as many ancient swords unearthed from antiquity. Yet, the blade gleamed with a cold light, almost blinding to the eye. What surprised me even more was the countless thunder patterns and bird-script characters entwined on the blade, seemingly about to burst forth and soar into the sky.

We've struck it rich!

I was secretly delighted, never expecting to find such a divine artifact in a place like this. I had been dabbling in antique plates for a long time and had often heard people talk about the term "divine artifact," but I had never had the chance to see one. Thinking about it, it makes sense. Something that can be called a divine artifact is naturally not an ordinary thing, and it must be ancient. Let alone an antique plate like mine, even a scavenger might spend his whole life climbing and still not see one, and ninety percent of people might not even see one. And those who are lucky enough to see a divine artifact are bound to be able to control it, and many end up losing their lives in the end.

I consider myself lucky. I know very well that a bronze sword from the Western Zhou Dynasty that has retained such sharpness would be invaluable once unearthed. However, a sword is a double-edged sword, and if such a rare treasure were discovered, I could simply eat free government food and never have to work hard again.

Chapter Seven: Heaven's Cripples and Earth's Deficiencies

I stood there, sword in hand, and in a daze, I felt as if the entire universe was under my control. For the first time in my life, a surge of heroic spirit soared to the heavens. I gently swung the ancient bronze sword in my hand, and the spiderweb that had formed a net-like canopy snapped in two. The girl was right after all.

The moment the bronze sword was acquired, the Bagua formation was naturally broken. I saw the young master holding a lighter in one hand and protecting the maid with the other, confronting several two-faced insectoids.

Just now, as soon as I entered the formation, I was immediately trapped. I couldn't see the young master and the maid, but they could see me. They naturally saw the perilous steps I took. Now, seeing that I had obtained the ancient bronze sword, the young master couldn't help but shout, "Old Xu, hurry up... I can't hold on much longer, damn it, what the hell is all this stuff?"

"They're here, they're here..." I brandished my ancient bronze sword, hacking my way towards the young master and maid. But just then, suddenly, a rumbling sound, like muffled thunder, came from the ground.

I know there's no thunder here. But why does the ground feel like it's shaking? Is this just my imagination? I looked down and was shocked. The once smooth white jade platform now had a long crack, and the two-faced insect-men who had been entangled with the young master and maid were now retreating uneasily into the pools on either side.