Underworld

Chapter 4

Often, people are preoccupied with various desires and unable to find peace of mind. But if you can let go of desires and maintain a calm, tranquil, and detached mind, you can naturally be like them:—able to go when you want, stop when you want, and sleep when you want.

※※※※※

At this moment, Professor Yin sighed heavily:

"It's all broken! Damn it... that purple light..."

Xiao Ding was extremely worried, "Will you be punished?"

Professor Yin shook his full head of white hair: "No."

He said, "I will only be sentenced."

Chapter Two: The Realm of Hungry Ghosts

Author: Wind in the Clouds

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. The Terrace of Longing for Home II. Inside the Bridge of Helplessness III. The Sky Collapses IV. Opposite Side V. Breaking the Ice ※ ...

What actually sank were the foundation stones around the "bridge," while the real "Bridge of Helplessness—the place where Xu Fangfang and Du Liu stopped" was rising.

Xu Fangfang screamed and tried to escape, but she couldn't pull Du Liu away.

A transparent dome suddenly fell, covering the two people and also enveloping the "Bridge of Helplessness".

The cover is transparent, but the green light can still pass through.

Under the green light, a transparent wall suddenly rose from the "Looking-Homeward Terrace," and another transparent wall descended. The two walls separated the "Looking-Homeward Terrace" into the "Looking-Homeward House."

The “Heavenly Chamber” remains unchanged. In fact, after walking out of the “chamber”, one can walk along a path about thirty centimeters wide to the outside of the “Looking-Homeward Terrace” and then to the outer end of the “Path of the Gods” of the “Tower of Heaven”.

At this moment, the space has been divided into four places: the eldest brother is looking towards his hometown from the "Looking-Homeward Terrace"; Du Liu and Xu Fangfang are helpless on the "Bridge of Helplessness"; the nine people on the road of humanity are terrified in the "Heavenly Trapping Chamber" as if they are trapped by the heavens; Tong Rong has undoubtedly become a "god", and A Ding may have reached the top of the "Tower of Babel" and arrived in the "heavenly realm".

The only one that was not closed off was the "Path of Gods," and the people who could walk on the "Path of Gods" were the "One Flower, Two Swords, Five-Person Group" and Zhou Lingli from the "Path of Man."

But of the two who walked the "Path of God," one, Tong Rong, lay stiff, handless corpse on the cliff edge; the other, A Ding, with four hands and a bloody hole, plummeted into the bottomless abyss. The width of the cliff was unknown, and whether the "Path of God" on the other side still existed was unknown. Even if it did, who could cross that tens-of-meters-wide chasm? Moreover, each of these skeletal figures was not only cold, hungry, terrified, and weak, but also dared not move.

But not daring to move doesn't mean they can't move: they haven't had enough to eat in a long time; they have experienced too many horrific events, and their psychological endurance has almost reached its limit.

The cold mist rose up, and Leng Momo was the first to give way and fall.

But she neither fell under the trapdoor nor was she harmed by arrows or blades; everything seemed normal. People fell one after another, and nothing changed.

The cold was as unbearable as a howling wind in a snowy landscape. Guan Wen forgot the danger of death and couldn't help but move around a bit first, and nothing happened. People gradually stretched their almost numb limbs, moved to the center, and hugged each other.

—At this point, the only way to dispel the chill is by relying on each other's body heat, right?

※ ...

At this point, people have practically run out of things to say.

The eldest brother moved silently within the sealed room, while his three disciples moved about in turn. The four of them searched again and again, filled with hope, yet searching indifferently and silently, only to have their hopes ultimately dashed.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [13]: But they were the luckiest: the large packages containing food were still there.

—Inside the package that the boss had snatched back, there were even some tools. A small number, but enough to break ground.

The cold caused the leader and the others to huddle together. The eight skeletal figures, embracing each other, struggled to make out each other's features in the green light.

But my body temperature is dropping, and I'm getting colder and colder.

There is ice.

Ice was forming; a thin layer of ice had already appeared on the walls and overhead. Only the ground beneath their feet remained unfrozen, and the air was seeping up from there, bringing with it a chilling cold.

The eldest brother released everyone, opened the package, took out two stiff, dry flatbreads, divided them into eight portions, one for each person.

"We can only wait... until the mechanism is restored."

He didn't say much.

However, everyone had already guessed that there were no tools in the bag to break the mechanisms in the tomb passage.

That means that even if the mechanism is found, it cannot be broken.

The dry flatbread was quickly finished. Everyone felt even colder and hungrier. A wave of drowsiness washed over them, but the eldest brother was startled: —We can't sleep! We absolutely can't sleep!

Once you fall asleep, you may never wake up again!

He broke the silence, saying, "This matter concerns Zhu Qian—she must die!" He nudged Huang Zilan, "This isn't to avenge Xiao Pang, but—because of her, the tomb has become ferocious!" Huang Zilan lazily raised her eyes, weak and listless, "Why...why didn't you kill her..." The leader struggled to suppress his weakness, "That's the difficulty. We can't kill anyone. And no one can kill anyone. Otherwise, the tomb will still become ferocious. She can only commit suicide or die a natural death."

"Why...why?" Huang Zilan gradually overcame her drowsiness.

"For no particular reason. It's a kind of 'principle'."

Er Gou said angrily, "If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have rather killed them all and then committed suicide. That would have been better than us being trapped forever!"

The silence was broken. Xiao Chan sighed softly, "That Ding Da seems to love Tong Rong very much, and he seems to be single-mindedly seeking revenge for Tong Rong. But why is he protecting Zhu Qian? — Doesn't he know that Zhu Qian is the real murderer who killed Tong Rong?"

Huang Zilan remained silent for a moment before letting out a soft sigh. "He's the kind of person... well... the kind who wholeheartedly wants to do good deeds but is always misunderstood. Sometimes, once he gets impulsive, he doesn't consider the consequences at all. Besides, Zhu Qian had no reason to hurt Tong Rong. If it were me, I wouldn't believe it either."

The eldest brother explained, "Zhu Qian killed Xiao Pang. She was very calm when she killed him. She was also very calm when she left. She took many of Xiao Pang's belongings. However, she didn't know that the truly useful thing was the mesh cotton coat that Xiao Pang was wearing."

Without this garment, none of our traps, ambushes, and communications will be effective against her. She can only wait quietly at the exit. One-Eyed understood this; before committing suicide, he took off his netted robe and gave it to Tong Rong. If Tong Rong had gone out then, with the green light in her hand, Zhu Qian, in her panic, might have misinterpreted things. She would certainly have preemptively struck. Of course, the possibility of forcibly taking food and water cannot be ruled out. Since—there were only the two of them at the time…”

Wei Yiyi suddenly spoke up for the first time: "Even if Ding Dada could guess it, he wouldn't believe it."

"Why?" the eldest asked.

"He once liked Zhu Qian. And—he only dared to have a one-sided love for her."

"No way." Huang Zilan was taken aback.

“It’s true!” An Yingying said crisply. “Zhu Qian noticed it. She’s always very accurate in judging people.”

Just then, the green light suddenly dimmed. It flickered a few times and then went out.

It was pitch black.

In the darkness, a feeling colder than the cold itself suddenly washed over people—as if, perhaps, from a past life, or a dream: Zhu Qian had committed suicide, or had committed suicide before. And after that came terrible chaos. A terrifying, indescribable nightmare… The green light shone brighter, and the leader pulled out a fluorescent disk.

Under the light, looking out through the transparent wall of the "Looking-Homeward Terrace," Xu Fangfang and Du Liu were still on the "Bridge of Helplessness." Moreover, Du Liu had woken up, sat up, and opened the backpack containing food; the two were talking about something.

Inside the “sky-sinking” room, people had separated, and it seemed that everyone was chewing something or talking about something.

"The fluorescent light is still there!" Xiao Dao exclaimed with the same astonishment as if he had discovered the sun had suddenly turned into the moon. He gazed at the "Bridge of Helplessness," and said, "If nothing unexpected happens, the fluorescent light can provide continuous illumination for two months!"

"That means we've been underground for at least two and a half months," Xiao Chan added. Er Gou smiled wryly, "But we feel—at most, only twenty days... a month, right?"

The eldest brother pondered for a moment and said, "There is no time underground. If there is an extremely powerful magnetic field deep underground, and we are on the edge of the magnetic field lines, it is indeed possible that time anomalies will occur. If the strength of the magnetic field reaches a certain level, we may even become invisible or deformed. But that is not terrible. What is terrible is that after leaving the range of this magnetic field, we may become invisible people forever, and no one can see anyone else, only relying on our senses. And when the strength of the magnetic field decreases, we may also experience mental disorders."

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [14]: "Was it derived from the 'Philadelphia Experiment'?" An Yingying asked.

The eldest looked at An Yingying strangely: "You know about this too?"

An Yingying nodded. "I've heard of it. However, electricity and magnetism are indistinguishable. If such a strong magnetic field really existed, we would have died long ago."

"Oh? You think it's impossible for humans on a supersonic aircraft to run against the direction of flight? If we were in a protected environment, the environment would allow our bodies to adapt and accept the adverse factors present. For example, if we were currently in a metal cage, then..." An Yingying interrupted, "but we should at least be able to sense the existence of 'force.' For instance, there would be occasional flashes of electric sparks; our hair would stand on end, etc..." "What I mean is: electro-induction would be eliminated, and magnetic induction would cause time distortion. If it's about 'sensing,' we've had it for a long time. Our current physiological functions are proof enough. Drinking water..." Previously, our physiological functions were basically adapted to the current time. Therefore, people didn't feel that a long time had passed. Physiological needs weren't too unreasonable either. Especially in terms of outward appearance, there wasn't much change. But after drinking water, the changes in the tomb passage mechanism caused a new adjustment in time. Thus, we are in an adaptation phase in the short term. Physiological functions are converging towards the correct time. So our appearance changed first. Like our current emaciated state. But if it were just emaciated state, we could think that the water contained some kind of poison. But look—the hair, beards of our five men..." The leader pointed to himself and the other men.

In that short time, all five men had grown extremely long beards, and their hair looked as if it hadn't been combed or cut for two or three months.

The eldest continued, "Next, there will be an increase in physiological needs. To adapt to the changes at this stage, we may have to eat and drink constantly, and replenish our nutrients continuously. Otherwise, we will not be able to provide the energy that our bodies can store. At that time, you may still be talking now, but you will starve to death before you finish a sentence."

"I... am hungry..." Chen Xing said with a worried look on his face.

The others also immediately felt an overwhelming hunger and thirst.

"—This is just the beginning. We must be patient." The leader said in a deep voice, enunciating each word clearly: "Because we simply don't know when we'll be able to adapt!"

However, patience is not an easy thing.

After enduring for only a short while, the eldest brother took out a small bag. Inside the bag was frozen meat, still covered in frost, with traces of blood visible. Huang Zilan felt waves of nausea and was about to vomit. Wei Yiyi and An Yingying immediately turned their faces away, looking extremely pained. Xiao Dao took out a knife and cut the bag of meat into strips and shreds. Then, each of the four of them took a strip and slowly chewed it.

Chen Xing stretched out his hand, then pulled it back, looking at him pleadingly and asking, "Can... I... have some too?"

Er Gou laughed, "We're all on the same side, what's wrong with eating a little?"

Chen Xing immediately caught two.

"Don't panic!" Er Gou said. Chen Xing was taken aback and quickly put one back.

Er Gou laughed. "It's not that I'm afraid you'll eat too much. It's just that a gentleman must be upfront—do you know what kind of meat this is?"

"It's raw meat!" Chen Xing exclaimed happily. "It's okay. Raw meat is actually better at keeping warm. I've eaten Japanese sashimi before, and I've also eaten fresh monkey brains!"

Er Gou seemed very happy and asked, "Is it the kind of sashimi where the fish head is still moving even after you cut open the belly and cut the meat into your mouth? Is it the kind of monkey brain where you put a monkey in a table with only its head sticking out, shave its head, use a hammer and chisel to crack open its head, and then use a spoon to scoop out its brains and drink them?"

“Yes…yes,” Chen Xing said. He was quite happy with the first “yes,” but the second “yes” was somewhat reluctant.

He gave a wry smile. "Don't make it sound so scary..." Er Gou grinned and said, "We've already eaten it, what's there to be afraid of? It is indeed raw meat. But do you know exactly what kind of raw meat it is?"

"What does it matter?" Chen Xing eagerly stuffed a piece of raw meat, about the thickness and length of a finger, into his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and swallowed it before saying, "-It can't be human flesh, can it?"

"But it is human flesh!" Er Gou sneered.

Chen Xing froze.

"Moreover, it's the flesh of two of our companions. Both are very fresh." Er Gou continued to explain, "Look, what you ate was the flesh from Little Fatty's left arm—the flesh from Little Fatty who was killed by Zhu Qian. The birthmark on it was still there. And coincidentally, you ate half of the birthmark..." Before he could finish speaking, Chen Xing had already bent over and started vomiting.

But my stomach was already empty, so what could I possibly vomit up?

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [15]: "However, that piece of meat has a lot of fat, which does help keep you warm..." Er Gou continued to say.

※ ...

Even a person in a "coma" can still have consciousness and basic reflexes, so when Er Gou tried to put some minced meat into her mouth, she actually swallowed it.

Then, the second part of the dialogue began.

"You guys—also study science?" Huang Zilan asked the eldest brother.

"Science? Everything that exists is science." The eldest brother scoffed. "It's just that people are good at labeling things that are inexplicable or difficult to explain with terms like 'feudal superstition.' They ignore the correct aspects of these things, but criticize the incorrect aspects vehemently, and thus deny the whole picture. — It's like burying your head in the sand! Deceiving yourself!"

He seemed to be greatly indignant because of Huang Zilan's words, and his emotions were slightly unstable, but after saying these words, he returned to his usual calm.

"Because our line of work deals with a lot of 'superstitious' phenomena that are indeed difficult to explain with conventional science, those of us who excel in this field cannot simply rely on classical knowledge." The leader extended his right hand, retracted his thumb, and raised the other four fingers. "We must seek reasons that can be explained scientifically. Even if it's just a minor one. All things have force; these are the four forces we are familiar with, basically equal." He raised his thumb again. "But humans have five fingers, and the thumb, being the most useful, is easily overlooked because it's hidden. Just as the five fingers are indivisible and each has its own function, there is indeed a fifth force. Among the four forces, each is indivisible and can be transformed into one another; the fifth force is the same. We are people in the 'underworld,' or you could say, people in the 'martial arts world,' people in the 'jianghu.' As society has developed to this point, even the leaders of the 'underworld' are considering how to keep up with the times. Isn't your husband, Lei Zhenyu, reading extensively about all kinds of knowledge?"

Huang Zilan nodded. "I also find it strange that he has suddenly become so studious."

"That's not surprising. If he wants to maintain his status, the only way is to study."

Huang Zilan was somewhat confused. "What exactly is his status in your underworld?"