Ghostly Encounter

Chapter 11

I forced back my nausea and shudder and whispered, "They're here to carry sky lanterns, but this way of dying is even worse than being lit a sky lantern. Isn't this... isn't this the ancient punishment of being cut into a thousand pieces, or what's called Lingchi?"

Thinking it over, I added, "It's slow slicing, but a semi-automatic one. Old Rong Wang's thinking is quite broad; he knows how to use machinery to save manpower."

The pungent smell of fresh human blood was overwhelming. Tian Li was already quite frightened and couldn't help but grab my arm tightly to avoid falling. Lao Xu didn't dare to move at all, for fear of falling into the trap and experiencing what I figuratively called a semi-automatic torture device.

I frowned, feeling a sharp pain from Tian Li's pinching fingers, and swung my headlamp from side to side: "You two, look quickly, there's something around us."

Without a word, Lao Xu took out a pine torch from his bag. As soon as he lit it, Tian Li screamed, which startled me: "My God, this person..." She grabbed my arm and almost collapsed.

I followed her gaze and saw another corpse. The face looked somewhat familiar; it was one of the two thugs on night watch that Lao Xu and I had seen last night!

However, this person was about to become two, both fixed to an iron bar, but this time they were hanging upside down, head down, with their legs spread wide apart. A large saw was cutting straight down from the top, along the hip bone, and got stuck in the ribs. Their intestines spilled out onto the ground, but they were not quite dead yet, their toes twitching as they struggled to survive.

I struggled to steady myself and patted Tian Li, saying, "Don't faint, please don't faint. Lao Xu, don't move either. It looks like this place is full of deadly traps. The trigger must be buried in the rocks under our feet."

The torch crackled and popped, and the person who was about to be split in two finally breathed his last. His big toe stretched straight out instantly, too weak to retract.

Behind us, we could faintly hear the sounds of animals crawling. I inwardly groaned. Had a swarm of Black Maitreyas already rushed over so quickly? Were they really going to kill the three of us?

Old Xu suddenly spoke up: "Feng Yixi, what exactly did Old Qin tell you? Where is he now? We've put our lives on the line, we're practically in the gates of hell, what the hell are you talking about? Why hasn't Old Qin shown up yet?"

His tense tone revealed a sinister edge, which startled me. I couldn't help but rack my brains trying to remember when I had told Lao Xu that my full name was Feng Yixi.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Golden Corpse

Not far away, indistinctly lit, were a cluster of firelight. I tucked the winter coat into Tian Li's clothes and followed Lao Xu quietly outside, taking out my binoculars to examine the flames closely.

Upon looking around, I was startled to find that I had indeed run into the group of Han Chinese carrying sky lanterns. Most of them were sleeping, with hunting rifles and long spears slung over their backs. Two men, probably on night watch, couldn't stand the cold and had just lit a bonfire to drink and chat.

Old Xu whispered in my ear, "This group just came up here. They might have gotten lost on the way, bumped into something, and someone even died. I've been keeping an eye on them, and thankfully, they don't seem to be heading this way at all. There's not much game to hunt on Youlong Mountain. Judging by all the guns they're carrying, they must be the group of people who went missing a few years ago carrying sky lanterns. You absolutely mustn't alert them. Go back and tidy up the place, and let them leave first tomorrow."

The mountains were quiet, and the night wind wasn't strong. I vaguely heard two people discussing something. I heard one of them say, "Is it true that the boss told us to do this one last time?"

Another voice lowered its voice and said, "Oh, the boss himself...it seems it's true, all these years...that Han Yena from Beijing...this time it should be..." The rest was indistinct, but I was startled by the mention of "Han Yena from Beijing." Good heavens, could someone have sabotaged my girlfriend to harm her? She knows nothing about it. Was what I saw in Beijing during my daze all real?

Old Xu pulled me, who was full of suspicion, and quietly retreated. When it was almost dawn, I shook Tian Li awake and quietly told her not to make a sound, because something unexpected might happen.

After a long while, Old Xu returned and said, "It's nothing, they've already left. Judging from the direction they're heading, they're not going down the mountain to go back. They're going in the same direction as us, also heading towards the top of Youlong Mountain. It's really strange, what are you all going to do on that mountaintop?"

I figured Lao Xu was someone Qin Jianjun had entrusted to trust, and I wanted to let those people get away before we set off. So I briefly explained the situation to Lao Xu, mixing truth with falsehood, hoping he would understand: "Here's what happened. Ten years ago, Lao Qin contracted a strange, incurable disease. He heard that there was medicine in the Insect Valley in Youlong Mountain, so he braved all sorts of hardships to break in, only to unexpectedly discover a two-thousand-year-old tomb. It was very eerie; he almost couldn't escape. But in the end, he managed to get the medicine, but he dropped the prescription that showed how to use it in the Insect Valley. So this time, Lao Qin has come back to find that prescription. Since I have some knowledge of how to use this medicine, I'll have you take me up the mountain. There's a place called 'Black Flame Tower' or 'Luzhen Pavilion' at the top. I'll be responsible for finding that place. Once we meet up with Lao Qin, we can solve his incurable disease once and for all. Is that clear enough?"

Old Xu nodded, frowned, and said, "So you're a doctor? It seems Old Qin wants to take the prescription to some special place on the mountaintop for treatment. But if he can't find the prescription, or if he's delayed and can't get to the top of the snow mountain, are we just going to keep waiting?"

I really didn't know what to do in this situation, so I said, "I don't know, but I guess there might be a solution in Luzhen Pavilion. I still believe that he must have his reasons for doing this. I think we should be careful of the group of people in front of us. Old Qin told me about being followed. I've also suffered losses in Beijing, but I don't know if it's these people causing trouble."

Then I briefly recounted my experience of being bewitched by the Miao people in Beijing, and concluded by saying, "What I don't understand is how quickly these people can get things done. I was targeted as soon as I arrived in Beijing, so it's hard to be sure if they've also come to Nandan, Guangxi. Plus, I heard that person mention Han Yena from Beijing... and so on. I'm worried that something might happen to my girlfriend, so I'm even more uneasy. So, Lao Xu, you must find a way to get us to follow these people and find an opportunity to get rid of them together."

Old Xu was a little suspicious of my relationship with Tian Li. We were still embracing last night, so why was he saying this morning that I had another girlfriend? He gave Tian Li a strange look, shook his head and said, "You Han people, I don't understand. But I will do my best. For Lao Qin's sake, I will listen to his plan. Don't worry, you don't need to tell me. I will also take down these bad Han people carrying sky lanterns."

Tian Li silently packed her things, didn't even glance at me, and walked out first. Lao Xu and I were stunned for a moment, then quickly set off as well.

The mountain path became increasingly difficult to traverse, with some areas lacking any path at all. Fortunately, Lao Xu was very familiar with the terrain and led us forward step by step.

The wind picked up, and snowflakes quickly began to fall from the mountaintop. At this altitude of over 3,000 meters, the temperature changed rapidly. We took out our warm clothing and goggles, donned them, and prepared for the increasingly deep snow and biting wind. The entire morning was a battle against the snow and the cold wind. Fortunately, we hadn't yet reached the icy highlands, so I was managing. Aside from occasional shortness of breath and requests to slow down, I didn't encounter any major problems. Perhaps it was because I was walking slowly that I didn't overtake the group ahead of me; in fact, I could see their tracks along the way.

Around noon, Lao Xu gestured that we had returned to the place where we ate our dry rations. Shivering, we finished our meal. Then it started snowing, and the temperature plummeted. It seemed we were about to reach the snow line and then set foot on the frigid, snow-covered summit. The weather changed abruptly; the snowflakes were no longer like willow catkins or cotton wool. Large snow pellets and ice crystals were whipped up from the ground by the cold wind. The mountain became damp and chilly, and the wind and snow mixed with ice pellets lashed at us, making me suffer terribly.

Step by step, I followed behind and reached the snow line. It was almost dark. Old Xu was busy looking for a place to camp. We went down the mountain and found a sheltered snowdrift. This time it wasn't as comfortable as last night. The rocks behind us weren't big enough, and snow particles kept getting into our necks, making us shiver. In the freezing cold, chewing dry rations was really unpleasant. I found it tasteless and hard to swallow. I saw that Tian Li was in the same boat, frowning and unable to eat.

After staying in the snowdrift for a while, I couldn't stand it anymore and came out to stretch my arms and legs. At this time, the wind and snow had subsided a bit, and everything was not very dark because of the white snow. I tried to test my eyesight by touching the snowdrifts, so I carefully examined the shape of the mountain.

As the saying goes, "It takes three years to find the dragon, and ten years to pinpoint the burial site." The dragon head of Chinese feng shui originates from Kunlun, extending northward along the Tianshan, Yinshan, and Yanshan Mountains, appearing and disappearing before entering the Bohai Sea, then rising ashore to form the Changbai Mountains. In the middle are the Qilian and Bayan Kola Mountains. At the Qinling Mountains, the dragon head splits in two, one branch heading north to become the Taihang Mountains, and the other heading south to become the Daba Mountains, Nanling Mountains, and Wuyi Mountains, eventually entering the East China Sea. The southernmost point is the Hengduan Mountains, which turn south at the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and cross the border. These three giant dragons undulate and twist across the land, creating countless auspicious feng shui sites. The ancients often said, "Entering the mountains to find the dragon," meaning that only by going up to Kunlun can one follow the dragon veins to find the best feng shui.

The mountains in northern Guangxi all descend from the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. After a long two-day journey, we had no idea where we were. The mountains before us were surrounded by a dozen peaks, all seemingly of similar height. However, our direction was slightly westward. Looking back down the mountain, we saw only sparse forests, valleys, and pools scattered about. We couldn't discern any dragon's spine or dragon's head formation. In other words, I hadn't discovered that this was a dragon vein. If there were anything unusual about the mountaintop, it would be nothing more than a construction project involving earth and stone, carving out mountains and excavating tombs. At most, the mountain would have been hollowed out. After two thousand years of wind and rain erosion, the vegetation and rock distribution on the ground should have revealed some traces. But I just couldn't see any.

I looked at it from several different angles, and I started to get a little impatient. The "Secret Techniques of Tianyuan Mountain and Water" couldn't possibly be a lie. How could I not see the dragon veins even though I followed the formulas and methods in the book? How stupid of me!

Calm myself down and stabilize my emotions. I looked at it from another angle. The Rong King's underground palace was in the deep pool of the Insect Valley. The environment was artificially altered to create a water dragon pattern. Qin Jianjun said that there was a mystery about the top of the mountain. Could it be that he was implying that the mountain was not hollowed out, or that the mountain was actually built by humans? Looking at every mountain peak around me, I immediately rejected this idea. The amount of work involved was beyond human capabilities.

Although I can't see any major clues, I already feel that this mountaintop is indeed as Old Qin said, full of mystery, and faintly harbors a very evil aura. This is because the terrain and topography of the mountain do not conform to feng shui at all, and there is not even the slightest concept of feng shui. It's like a set of ten true/false questions, where you can either answer correctly or incorrectly. Even if you close your eyes and fill in the blanks randomly, you will still get some right. But I just happened to choose the wrong answer for all ten questions, which is very illogical. Something must have been moved here by human hands, otherwise it would never be like this!

I remember the landlady saying that fiery rocks often fall from the mountaintop. In my opinion, it's nothing more than a meteor shower. What did those people carrying sky lanterns bring down from the mountaintop that caused their drastic personality change? Right now, I'm finding it hard to figure out what the connection is.

In the latter half of the night, it was Lao Xu's turn to keep watch. Tian Li had already saved a spot for me next to her. I lay down next to Tian Li, full of doubts and unfathomable thoughts. The distant mountains were covered in white snow, and the mountaintops were shrouded in mist, emitting patches of black smoke. I could only hope that tomorrow's journey would completely unravel the mystery in my heart.

Perhaps it was fate, but this night was destined to be anything but peaceful. I was woken up shortly after falling asleep. The ground beneath my feet was shaking, and the rocks I was leaning against were swaying. My first thought was that it was an earthquake!

One muffled thud after another echoed in my ears—the sound of stones crashing heavily to the ground. Old Xu, in a panic, pulled me and Tian Li inside as fast as he could. When I came to my senses, I realized we'd encountered a meteor shower. These earthquake-like signs were all caused by meteorites. It seemed these were the "fire stones" the innkeeper had mentioned. But how could those carrying the sky lanterns have known about such an astronomical phenomenon tonight? Did they calculate it, or did they create it?

The chaotic meteor shower lasted for about five minutes before ending, and the surroundings returned to calm. Old Xu cautiously peeked out and came back with a sigh, "An avalanche! Luckily we were slow and didn't reach the top of the mountain, otherwise we would have been buried alive by now. But it's good, at least we won't have to worry about avalanches when we go up the mountain tomorrow."

Upon hearing about the avalanche, I hurriedly asked Lao Xu, "What about those people? Could they have been swallowed by the avalanche? Didn't the tracks we saw today indicate that they had already reached the summit?"

Old Xu shook his head: "Nobody knows. After an avalanche, no trace will be left. Hopefully, these bastards will be buried alive, which would be God helping us get rid of a menace. But I don't think it's that simple. As the saying goes, good people don't live long, but evil people live for a thousand years!"

At that moment, Tian Li secretly pinched me hard. I turned around and saw Tian Li staring at me silently with a pale face. She just gestured for me to look ahead. In the snow behind Lao Xu, there was a dark, blurry thing lying quietly. I grabbed him and pulled him over. Lao Xu reacted quickly. When he turned around, he had already taken out a long knife and held it diagonally across his chest.

Time flew by, and the dark, blurry thing remained in the same position it had just been discovered. From my perspective, this humanoid object had rolled down from not far away, most likely knocked onto the ground by the meteor shower earlier. With the help of the snow's reflection, Lao Xu walked up step by step, while Tian Li took out the gun, wary of the thing suddenly attacking and hurting people.

The tip of the long knife touched it lightly, making a clinking sound. It seemed to be a metal lump. Lao Xu and I immediately breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn't a living thing, everything would be easier. That night at Lao Xu's house, I was already terrified by this dark, blurry thing, afraid that it would stretch out its two claws and strangle me again.

Upon closer inspection, a chill ran down his spine. It was a person, but had been dead for quite some time. The clothing was that of an ancient warrior, complete with sword and saber. Every inch of skin, even the helmet, the wide-open eyes beneath it, and the gaping mouth, gleamed with a metallic sheen, giving the impression that the warrior had died in extreme agony. Old Xu gently scraped it with his knife, revealing a golden hue—it was a golden corpse!

Chapter Twenty-Eight

gate of hell

Golden Corpse!

Seeing the golden color in the snow, my first thought was of the people carrying sky lanterns. It turned out they were after gold. The amount of gold covering this one corpse was considerable. If I were to scrape off several corpses at once and carry all the gold down the mountain, I'm afraid I would be exhausted.

But how could such a thing exist in this place? Could it be that besides creating the 'Water Dragon Halo' divine treasure cave in the valley, the old King Rong also left himself an escape route on the mountaintop? But it's no wonder, this guy wasted all his time and energy on his affairs after death, no wonder his country was destroyed and his race wiped out.

I had no interest in scraping gold off a dead body. Old Xu, being a Jingpo person, deeply revered ghosts and gods and insisted on digging a pit to properly bury the ancient corpse, so I let him be. Only Tian Li showed the high vigilance of a people's police officer at this moment, and she showed no intention of putting down her gun. Fortunately, this vigilance saved my life.

Seeing that Lao Xu couldn't move it, I lent a hand and dragged the golden corpse to the newly dug pit. It wasn't as heavy as I had imagined. If it weren't for the lifelike teeth and tongue on the corpse's face, I would have suspected that this ancient corpse was just a gilded wooden statue. Looking down at the eyeballs carefully, I wanted to find some evidence to prove that it was just a wooden statue.

With a muffled thud, Tian Li's hunting rifle fired. I looked up and saw a tall, dark figure stumbling and running past me. Its body was covered in furry black blobs, swaying left and right as it ran, constantly shedding snow and pebbles. I was startled, but then I heard Lao Xu shout, "Quick, chase after it! Don't let it get away!"

Without thinking twice, I followed Lao Xu and Tian Li in pursuit. The thing ran even faster, and large chunks kept falling from its body. Its originally bulky body became much slimmer, and it quickly disappeared from sight. Lao Xu stopped and said, "Don't chase it anymore, it's too late, it's almost gone."

I asked Lao Xu, panting, "What is this thing? Lao Xu, tell me quickly. If those thugs aren't dead, they'll probably hear this shot. What do we do now?"

Old Xu led us back, and on the way he whispered something that, although it also happened near the top of the snow mountain, was far away from Youlong Mountain where we were now.

This is a story passed down among the Tibetan people: on the snow-capped mountains, every night, an animal that hides under the ice emerges and gathers to search for recently deceased corpses. It burrows into the corpse's clothing and devours the flesh, turning the body white. If it continues to attack living people and livestock, it grows larger and larger, eventually shrinking due to the exhaustion from its activity. If it fails to find a living person within two or three days, it disperses and burrows under the glacier to hide until it finds a new corpse. This creature prefers to burrow into snow gullies and ice pits, and only appears at night. Over seven hundred years ago, it caused a great disaster, killing countless people and livestock.

I asked Lao Xu, "So this isn't one thing, but a group? A lot of them gathered together?"

Old Xu nodded and said, "That's right. At most, a dozen or so would attach to a single corpse. They would absorb the flesh and blood from the corpse and become fat, like lumps of fat. From a distance, they would look like a chubby snowman. Tibetans call them 'Snow Maitreya.' They have been around for a long time and have been gradually forgotten by people."

I gasped, looking at Tian Li with lingering fear, and said, "That thing that almost pounced on me must have been this. If Tian Li hadn't fired, I would have died. It was fucking terrifying!"

Old Xu shook his head and said, "This shouldn't be the Snow Maitreya. The thing on the black shadow that ran away wasn't white; it was covered in black, fuzzy hair. A few years ago, the people carrying sky lanterns caused a lot of trouble and killed many locals. Later, the public security and armed police joined forces to go into the mountains to suppress the bandits, but only two escaped alive. According to them, the Snow Maitreya that is said to exist in Tibet has taken root on the top of Youlong Mountain. However, strangely, these Snow Maitreya have turned completely black and smell extremely foul. Now it seems that many of these golden corpses were buried in Youlong Mountain, and the Snow Maitreya mutated them after devouring their bones and flesh. We locals call this thing 'Black Maitreya.' Tibetans say that this thing is particularly afraid of salt. Its only weakness is that it can only come out at night. Even if it rains or snows during the day, it dares not show itself. However, I don't know if it still has these weaknesses after turning into Black Maitreya."

Finally, Old Xu said to me heavily, "We only have a little salt left. Black Maitreya will definitely come to cause trouble again. Those people carrying sky lanterns will know we're behind us when they hear the gunshots. They're probably waiting for a chance to launch a sneak attack. It looks like there will be a good show on the top of this snow mountain tonight. Everyone, don't go to sleep."

The golden corpse, the black Maitreya, and the thugs on the snowy mountaintop who could shoot at any moment—the more I thought about it, the more oppressed I felt. My mouth tasted bitter. I glanced at Tian Li; her expression was solemn, and she gripped the gun barrel tightly, showing much more composure than I did.

We picked up our equipment, realizing we couldn't stay here any longer. Black Maitreya had been injured and fled, and no one could guarantee it wasn't going to gather its companions. If those people carrying the sky lanterns sent men down to deal with us, our weapons would be insufficient to withstand a sneak attack.

After the wind subsided and the snow fell, we decided to take advantage of the calm and the snow stopped to climb up in the dark, determined to find a new place to rest and spend the night.

Before we even reached the avalanche site, the ice caps, crevasses, and ice crevasses caused us considerable trouble. We had no choice but to proceed cautiously, step by step. We still couldn't get very far before I stopped at the edge of a cliff blocking our way. Looking ahead, I said softly, "Tian Li, do you know what the Gates of Hell are?" My tone was surprisingly calm.

Tian Li was startled: "Old Feng, what's wrong with you now? Why are you suddenly bringing up such weird stuff? It's best not to think about ghosts or monsters in a place like this."

I looked up at the mountain with a wry smile. The wisps of black mist that had been quietly drifting among the cliffs and ruins had now gradually condensed and tangled. Wherever they went, countless faint figures floated, most of them with ferocious faces, staring blankly at us, as if they were slowly flowing and gathering together.

It was like a dream, but a black dream. I stared blankly at the cliff face, where a meteorite had punched a large hole, from which black smoke was billowing out. Old Xu and Tian Li were also staring in disbelief. The appearance of this cave was really unfortunate. Black Maitreya was secretly following behind, while we were blocked by the rocks. What was even more deadly was that there were three large characters on the rocks, in Qin seal script. Although I didn't recognize seal script, I still remembered these three characters because they had appeared more than once in the movies I had seen.

"gate of hell"!

Standing before these three large characters, we stared at each other, wide-eyed, and could only choose to remain silent.

With a loud shout, Old Xu swung his long sword and brought it down heavily behind us. In the flash of the blade, a black, furry ball on the ground squeaked and pounced into the air, like a hedgehog. Its black fur stood on end, and its fleshy underside was extremely sticky. It had no nose or eyes, only tiny mouths that kept opening and closing. You could imagine the terrifying consequences of being bitten! So this was the true form of Black Maitreya. Fortunately, there was only one. Old Xu chopped it into pieces with a few strokes and burrowed into the snow.

Ignoring the sweat on his brow, Old Xu said in a deep voice, "We can't stay here any longer. The Black Maitreya has already surrounded us. It seems we won't last until dawn if we don't go into the cave!"

I rummaged through my backpack and pulled out the headlamp and hunting knife that Lao Qin had prepared. At least I had some weapons. I only had one headlamp, so I took the lead and cautiously walked into the cave.

As soon as we entered the cave, a blood-curdling scream came from inside. Then, the painful howls kept reaching our ears. I couldn't help but grab Lao Xu and ask him, "Listen, isn't that the sound of being bitten by Black Maitreya?"

Old Xu shook his head in confusion: "No, it can't be. The Black Maitreya pounced all over me and followed the heat into my mouth first. It's impossible for someone to howl for so long. Could there be something else in this cave?"

I caught a glimpse of the growing number of Black Maitreya figures behind us, and knew I couldn't hesitate any longer. I quickly pulled Lao Xu and Tian Li into the cave, and took out the only bit of salt we had and sprinkled it at the entrance, hoping to hold off the Black Maitreya figures for a while so we could get further away.

The howling from deep within the cave gradually subsided, the sounds becoming faint and piercingly cold as they drifted over.

We walked a short distance and finally arrived at the place where the screams came from. Although I had already experienced many terrifying scenes, I was still terrified by the cruelty in front of me at this moment!

A man, who should have been a burly, imposing figure, stood upright, his hands clasped together, tightly bound to an iron bar. Several iron buckles were fastened around his neck, stomach, and calves, slowly rotating. Horrifyingly, beneath his feet was a round iron disc with several sharp knives fixed to it, blades facing upwards. With each rotation of the iron bar, the man passed over these knives, a strip of flesh being sliced off. Several piles of skin and bits of flesh had accumulated on the disc, and upon closer inspection, some internal organs could be seen wriggling. The man had been scraped to almost nothing by the sharp knives, but his head remained, his eye sockets bulging with blood. He had likely watched helplessly as he was cut to pieces, unable to escape, and died a painful death.

I forced back my nausea and shudder and whispered, "They're here to carry sky lanterns, but this way of dying is even worse than being lit a sky lantern. Isn't this... isn't this the ancient punishment of being cut into a thousand pieces, or what's called Lingchi?"

Thinking it over, I added, "It's slow slicing, but a semi-automatic one. Old Rong Wang's thinking is quite broad; he knows how to use machinery to save manpower."

The pungent smell of fresh human blood was overwhelming. Tian Li was already quite frightened and couldn't help but grab my arm tightly to avoid falling. Lao Xu didn't dare to move at all, for fear of falling into the trap and experiencing what I figuratively called a semi-automatic torture device.

I frowned, feeling a sharp pain from Tian Li's pinching fingers, and swung my headlamp from side to side: "You two, look quickly, there's something around us."

Without a word, Lao Xu took out a pine torch from his bag. As soon as he lit it, Tian Li screamed, which startled me: "My God, this person..." She grabbed my arm and almost collapsed.

I followed her gaze and saw another corpse. The face looked somewhat familiar; it was one of the two thugs on night watch that Lao Xu and I had seen last night!

However, this person was about to become two, both fixed to an iron bar, but this time they were hanging upside down, head down, with their legs spread wide apart. A large saw was cutting straight down from the top, along the hip bone, and got stuck in the ribs. Their intestines spilled out onto the ground, but they were not quite dead yet, their toes twitching as they struggled to survive.

I struggled to steady myself and patted Tian Li, saying, "Don't faint, please don't faint. Lao Xu, don't move either. It looks like this place is full of deadly traps. The trigger must be buried in the rocks under our feet."

The torch crackled and popped, and the person who was about to be split in two finally breathed his last. His big toe stretched straight out instantly, too weak to retract.

Behind us, we could faintly hear the sounds of animals crawling. I inwardly groaned. Had a swarm of Black Maitreyas already rushed over so quickly? Were they really going to kill the three of us?

Old Xu suddenly spoke up: "Feng Yixi, what exactly did Old Qin tell you? Where is he now? We've put our lives on the line, we're practically in the gates of hell, what the hell are you talking about? Why hasn't Old Qin shown up yet?"

His tense tone revealed a sinister edge, which startled me. I couldn't help but rack my brains trying to remember when I had told Lao Xu that my full name was Feng Yixi.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Ghostly Wall

There were deadly traps ahead, the Black Maitreya behind us closing in step by step, and the strange and suspicious Old Xu beside us. It sounded like a lot of animals were crept closer. I looked and saw eerie green eyes moving in from the darkness. They were cat eyes, surrounding us without blinking.

Tian Li leaned against me, trembling slightly.

I said, "These are the eyes of an old cat, just like a wolf's eyes. It's said they can let in light. They glow green when it gets dark. Don't be afraid, old cats don't eat people! But why are there so many old cats here? What do they eat?" I suddenly remembered the Black Maitreya who mutated after eating the Golden Corpse. It was soft, mushy, and disgusting. I was a little scared. Were these old cats also raised on corpses?