Leyenda del pueblo de Baima

Capítulo 2

Feng Lide's face was deathly pale. He muttered, "Here we go again, here we go again." He covered his head with his hands, staggered out of the Bronze Hall, and disappeared from my sight.

I turned around.

The gilded pagoda in front of me is glowing.

When the light shone on me, I felt dizzy.

As the soft, hazy, misty light dissipated around me, the strange, chanting-like sounds also ceased.

I smelled the damp scent of earth. It was very quiet, with birdsong.

I stood on a mountain path, surrounded by mountains and forests, with a stream in the distance.

I was stunned.

I closed my eyes and imagined myself still in the bronze ware gallery of the Shanghai Museum. When I opened my eyes again, everything in front of me was still the same.

Could this be a daydream, or...? I thought of that glowing, gilded tower. A string of terms flashed through my mind in an instant: hypnosis, mirage, alternate dimension, wormhole, spacetime rift.

It's a ghost story.

I clenched my fist and punched a camphor tree next to me hard.

My hand was in excruciating pain, and the thick camphor tree swayed slightly, rustling the leaves. Everything felt so real.

A bone-chilling cold spread along the spine.

I suddenly realized where Feng Lide had spent that night—it was right here.

But where am I? Could it be that I'm inside that gilded pagoda?

The idea was absurd, but what I'm experiencing now is even more absurd.

I'm reminded of a game I played not long ago called "Xuan-Yuan Sword". In it, there's a Chinese porcelain pot called "Demon Refining Pot". Inside the pot is a hidden world, so beautiful it's like a fairyland, just like here.

My incurable curiosity finally kicked in.

I once told a pretty girl named Lin Ying that my only advantage as a journalist was my curiosity. But she told me that this was the worst thing a journalist could have in China.

In short, once my curiosity takes hold, nothing can stop me.

I walked forward along the mountain path. If this really was inside the tower, then I wanted to see how vast this world inside was, and what awaited me ahead.

And so began my first adventure. Looking back now, it's almost laughable how naive I was. If I had continued with that same reckless attitude towards every incredible event I experienced, I probably wouldn't be sitting here at my computer typing these words right now.

The scenery was truly beautiful; I was already sweating from walking, the earlier chill long since dispelled by the sweat. Turning a corner, I finally saw something different—Leifeng Pagoda.

It really is Leifeng Pagoda, exactly the same as in the photos I've seen before. The seven-story, ochre-colored Leifeng Pagoda stands very, very close to me.

But isn't Leifeng Pagoda by West Lake? Is this Hangzhou? Where is West Lake?

As I thought this, I saw West Lake, right behind Leifeng Pagoda, its surface shimmering with light, a beautiful scene of lake and mountains. I thought that if I got a little closer, I could see the reflection of Leifeng Pagoda, something even my father had never seen before.

Tourists were entering and leaving Leifeng Pagoda, dressed in strange costumes, their dynasty unknown. A girl clearly saw me, her face showing surprise. She was truly beautiful and radiant. I smiled at her, she turned her head, seemed to think for a moment, then smiled back at me and walked towards me.

My heart started pounding. How should I greet her? Should I say, "Miss, what is your surname?" But in ancient times, it was considered impolite to ask a girl's name.

In a flash, something suddenly occurred to me.

I thought of Feng Lide's horrified expression as he recalled his experience. That expression undoubtedly indicated how terrifying his ordeal that night was. But now, why does everything seem so wonderful? Could it be…?

Just as he thought of this, something unexpected happened.

A chilling desolation instantly gripped everything. The wind turned cold, the sky darkened, leaves began to yellow and fall, and tree trunks began to wither. Everything seemed to have been drained of its life in an instant.

The most terrifying sight was the beautiful girl walking towards me. In the blink of an eye, she decayed; her face turned yellow and then gray, wrinkles rapidly appeared, and her hair quickly turned completely white. A gust of cold wind blew, scattering her white hair. She continued walking towards me, her clothes already tattered and torn, revealing not the smooth, alabaster-like body of a young girl, but decaying muscle, rotting red veins, and small patches of bluish skin hanging from her skin, yellowish putrid fluid seeping out… I watched her body shrivel and rot until, within my reach, she had become a stark white skeleton. Her once bright eyes were now two holes filled with rotting flesh, her mouth gaped open, and her grayish-yellow teeth fell out. The skeleton's left leg took another step towards me, its slender hand slightly raised, as if trying to grasp something. However, all support vanished, and the skeleton collapsed with a crash, becoming a pile of bones.

Looking around, one sees bones scattered everywhere in front of Leifeng Pagoda. The towering trees around it have withered and most of them have fallen to the ground. The wind begins to carry yellow sand, and the reddish-brown Leifeng Pagoda collapses in the wind with a crash. The dust raised scatters the bones and mixes them with the yellow sand. Behind it, West Lake has dried up at some unknown time.

I almost wanted to turn and run, just like Feng Lide did in the museum. No matter who you are, no matter how brave you are, you would be overwhelmed by this situation, which is ten times more terrifying than the darkest nightmare.

I've already tasted my own bitter bile. Now, thinking back to Feng Lide, he was truly a daring and curious fellow—qualities befitting an archaeologist, of course. But my damned curiosity was even greater than Feng Lide's. Although my legs were trembling uncontrollably, I managed to suppress the urge to run away.

Using what little reason I had left, I began to think about this. At least I had seen the living, breathing Feng Lide before me. Compared to the destructive power before me, I felt that whether I escaped or not, and whether I could survive, was actually irrelevant. I looked at my hands; they hadn't turned into bones like that girl's. Although she had been so close to me, I hadn't been substantially affected.

I laughed. I often laugh when I'm most nervous and scared, to show my composure.

However, this calming method, which usually works well, was not very effective at this moment, because I knew that what had just happened was only the beginning.

Perhaps for me, the sight of a beautiful woman withered bones is extremely terrifying, but for Feng Lide, a renowned archaeologist who has entered countless ancient tombs and seen countless mummies throughout his life, his mind is undoubtedly very strong. I imagine that even if the scene before me was somewhat unexpected, it wouldn't have terrified him to the point of being trembling with fear just thinking about it afterwards.

Therefore, something else is bound to happen in the unknown future.

But I have nowhere to escape to.

Just as I was anxiously about to step into the ruins of Leifeng Pagoda to find out what was going on, the scenery before me changed again.

It was as if fog had risen all around, a faint white expanse, and before this whiteness, illusions appeared faintly.

I knew it must be an illusion, not only because the image was somewhat distorted, but also because the person in the illusion was actually myself.

The actions of "me" in that illusion were extremely realistic. Even the small actions that only I knew I would do when no one was around, and the mutterings that I often made to myself, were exactly the same. It was as if someone had recorded a holographic video of me and was now playing it back for me to see.

However, what I did in this video was very strange. If it weren't so strange, I would almost think it was a harbinger of my future life.

Inside, I was facing the computer, playing games non-stop, but each game only lasted halfway before I couldn't continue. As time passed and I grew older, it seemed as if the rest of my life would be spent in a cycle of "playing a new game, getting stuck, another new game, getting stuck again..."

When the illusion disappeared, I felt like I had just had a ridiculous dream.

Just as I stood there, stunned and unsure of what to do, I heard a deep "Hi" from behind me. The voice was very familiar.

I turned around in surprise and was shocked to see that the person who had suddenly appeared was another Nado.

First, I saw myself in a hallucination, then I saw a living person who looked exactly like me. What kind of place is this?

That guy had a strange, half-smiling expression on his face (I don't even know I could make such an annoying face), and said in a voice exactly like mine: "Don't doubt it, I am you, an avatar of your consciousness."

His words seemed to have a magical power, making me intuitively believe that he was telling the truth.

He continued, "What you just saw is your destiny in this life."

I murmured, "Fate...?"

He said in an unquestionable tone, "Yes, fate. There is only one way to break this tragic fate."

Without realizing it, I followed his lead and asked, "What method?"

He pointed to a ball of white light that suddenly appeared beside him and said, "You won't stay here for long. Stand here, and you can leave. Then, break the gilded tower."

His expression turned solemn: "In this way, your destiny will change. For your sake and for mine, go quickly."

I took a step toward the white light, but stopped after only one step.

The words and actions of that other "me" in front of me just now possessed an inexplicable, strange power, making me believe that everything he said was true, and that I should do as he said. But now, my mind has calmed down. I immediately sense that something is seriously wrong.

How could anyone have such a strange future? It's utterly absurd and impossible. Any rational thought will tell you that this is undoubtedly a lie.

Upon realizing this, I knew the problem lay with this person who claimed to be "my" alter ego.

I stared directly into the face that looked exactly like mine and asked in a deep voice, "Why did you lie to me? Who are you?"

He was completely taken aback by my sudden reaction and said, "What did you say?"

I became even more certain and said, "How could someone have such a fate that can't even fool a five-year-old?"

I went over his words in my mind and suddenly realized the crux of the matter. The image of "Stories to Warn the World" that I had seen on Feng Lide's desk during the interview flashed before my eyes, and I exclaimed in surprise: "You want to trick me into breaking down the gilded pagoda and letting you out!"

The "me" on the other side changed his expression and said sternly, "If you don't agree, you'll stay here forever and never leave again."

I was startled. This was still the monster's territory. How could I have been so careless with my words?

Just as he was wondering what to do, an idea struck him, and his brows relaxed. He smiled and said, "If you have the ability to suck in everyone who sees the Gilded Pagoda, whether it's their whole being or just their spirit, it will cause a sensation. When the scientific community studies the pagoda in detail, are you still worried about not having a chance to escape? In my opinion, you can't keep anyone here for long. You couldn't fool Feng Lide last time, and you can't fool me this time either."

The "I" changed expression several times, as if it had hit the nail on the head. It looked somewhat gloomy and snorted, saying, "What that person saw last time was actually one aspect of his true future. If it weren't for the fact that he consumed most of his energy, he wouldn't have needed to use this trick to deceive you this time. Otherwise, I think your willpower is far inferior to his. Now, never mind, I can just stay here a little longer."

Before I could say anything, he suddenly disappeared.

The white light was still there. I stepped in and felt surrounded by white mist, and my mind began to feel dizzy again.

When the white light faded, I found myself back in the Shanghai Museum's bronze ware gallery.

While I was still in a daze, a manager approached and said, "Sir, it's closing time."

Shortly after this incident, tragedy struck the archaeological world. A major archaeological excavation project led by Feng Lide suffered an accident, reportedly resulting in multiple deaths and injuries due to a landslide. Feng Lide was devastated and soon announced his retirement from archaeology. At this point, I vaguely guessed what kind of future Feng Lide envisioned, and understood why he felt such immense fear towards the gilded pagoda, for his archaeological career had already been sentenced to death on the night of March 11th this year in the underground palace of the Leifeng Pagoda in Hangzhou.

I sincerely admire Feng Lide. Under such circumstances, he was able to uphold the principles of an archaeologist and refrain from damaging the gilded pagoda for personal gain. If it were me, I probably wouldn't have been able to do that. You know, if an archaeological expert of his stature had proposed opening the gilded pagoda to see if there were really relics inside, based on archaeological reasons, it would very likely have been approved.

Later, I talked about this with my friend Lin Ying. This extremely superstitious girl was very enthusiastic. According to her analysis, the thing trapped in the tower used a memory derivation method on me, taking the most important and memorable things from my memory and extrapolating them in a negative direction. Unfortunately, I'm careless about work, have no wife or lover, and play games all day long. A while ago, I was playing "Fatal Force" and encountered a bug halfway through, losing all my progress. I was filled with frustration, and just thinking about it made my chest tight. And that strange thing seemed extremely unfamiliar with modern life, resulting in a future that was more like a farce. Otherwise, I really don't know what would have happened.

Lin Ying said to me softly, "Actually, you were in real danger back then."

I asked, "Why?"

She said, "It turned out that you were only mentally trapped in that tower. And how fragile is the human spirit? Even if it can't trap you there forever, it can still drive you insane."

I recalled the situation and nodded in agreement.

Lin Ying smiled and said, "It seems you've encountered a good monster."

Furthermore, for a long time after this incident, whenever I saw a beautiful woman, I would think of a white, gleaming skull, and I would remain absolutely unmoved by her presence.

What surprised me most about Na Duo's work wasn't the story itself, but the signature at the end—Na Duo. Of course, at that moment, I also understood what "Na Duo's Notes" meant.

My first reaction was to call Xiao Wu and ask him what the previous owner of the cabinet was called. Xiao Wu couldn't remember for a moment either, but said he would look for it for me.

"Is your surname the same as mine—Na?" I changed my mind before I could finish my sentence. It would be ridiculous to ask someone else if their name was also Na Duo.

"No," Xiao Wu answered decisively. "Our newspaper has never had anyone with that surname before. You think there are many people with that surname? They're rare animals." Xiao Wu joked with me.

I thanked them and hung up the phone.

Thinking about it carefully, although the description at the beginning of the journal sounds a lot like me, I don't actually have a friend named Lin Ying. So this piece, "Na Duo's Journal: A Lost Night," must have been written by someone who knows me and is using my name. Maybe it's because my name is a bit strange; "Na Duo's Journal" sounds better than something like "Zhang Dezhi's Journal."

But—I sat at my desk in a daze, one question after another popping into my head, giving me a huge headache.

Second, the clues have run dry. I pulled out a sheet of paper from the letters I had just collected and began to write down my questions one by one, intending to sort them out. Due to the confusion in my mind, the questions I wrote down were not very organized.

1. Is what is written in "Na Duo's Notebook" true or false?

Second, was this notebook written by the original owner of the cabinet?

Third, if not, how did this notebook end up in the cabinet?

Fourth, what is my relationship with this journal or the person who wrote it?

I felt like my head was spinning from thinking so much, but I only managed to come up with four questions, which shows that my inductive reasoning skills are really not good.

Let's put the first point aside for now. Regarding the second point, whether this notebook was written by the original owner of the cabinet, I reread the notebook and immediately came to the conclusion: no.