Hutong fantasma - Capítulo 11
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ Then came the screams.
A distant, seemingly cosmic scream, from the very end of another world: "The...master...of the tomb...is...obstructed..." ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ The knife fell to the ground, and Du Liu stood there, stunned.
The "ding" sound seemed to come from another world.
※ ...
What's scary is waking up from the dream.
After waking up from the dream, Du Liu killed Xu Fangfang.
With a silent cut, he ripped out her heart; with another cut, he cleaved it in two.
---Magpie Bridge Fairy
Reply [38]: --Note: This section is rather difficult to understand. If you can't get into it or don't understand it, please ignore it.
III. Purple Flowers at the Bottom of the Ravine
"Although you overcame all difficulties and obstacles, even defeated me, and successfully transformed into an alien, do you know why you were sent back?"
No. Merciful Lord.
"That's because you betrayed me too early, trying to ignore my existence. Therefore, I also forgot to tell you: that kind of life is divided into two kinds, called male and female; they are used to crying, believing that it is the newborn's guilt towards the mother; their birth must first get used to helplessness and pain, powerlessness and weakness, and then they can overcome everything by persecuting those who love them and finally become 'human'."
"Almighty Lord, victor, we weep because you have left us. Please give me another chance."
No. You no longer have a chance.
"Thank you, Holy Lord. I was actually longing for the gentleness of my homeland and unwilling to live in its environment, which is why I deceived you in that way. I am tired of war, tired of killing, tired of deception. The first time I saw the so-called human world, I felt its ridiculous form, so unbearable; therefore, I would rather be a wandering soul, drifting freely in my world."
"
"..."
※ ...
Ding Da sank to the bottom of the ravine, his clothes shattering as the ice cracked. He lay naked at the bottom of the stream. The water flowed silently, and sharp blades emerged from his chest and abdomen, turning to dust. The two clusters of iron needles at his knees also crumbled. His arms, raised high, remained raised high, and many shimmering objects floated in the water, gathering around him, while purple flowers drifted by, surrounding him.
He floated in the water, the shimmering energy dissipating, revealing cracks appearing on his naked body. A layer of skin gradually peeled away, the shimmering energy swirling around the detached skin. The skin disappeared. Purple flowers adhered to his body, entering his interior. A layer of skin, as translucent as jade, appeared; the skin on his face also blossomed and peeled away, as did the skin on his neck; the purple flowers gathered, and new skin appeared.
A handsome face.
He cried out.
The crying sounded like a child's. It sounded like a long, incessant siren.
The stream surges up like a tsunami, and the purple flowers are in full bloom.
Purple flowers everywhere.
The water recedes, the flowers fall. All is calm.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ A Ding opened his eyes: the stream was warm, and there was light everywhere; the breath of spring.
Where is this?
He wanted to ask, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he choked on a mouthful of water. He quickly stood up from the stream. The water was only waist-deep; it was a gently flowing stream, its surface shimmering with light, as if countless transparent fish were swimming within. On the surface, purple flowers floated like duckweed, emitting a delicate fragrance.
He looked up. Not far away, a towering mountain peak rose, behind which was an inward-curving rock wall; overhead, a spiraling cave, narrowing ever more, stretched into darkness. Not far away, a large, transparent cylinder was slowly moving towards the mountain peak. Inside the cylinder were two naked people.
Two acquaintances.
Do not look at what is improper. He turned his head away, and thus he did not see that Xu Fangfang was actually a corpse cut in two.
Only then did he notice his hands—one hand in each of his two hands. Only then did he notice his body—a body as clear and white as jade.
He tried desperately to recall what had happened, but couldn't remember anything. However, a faint sense of foreboding was creeping into his heart.
"...Is anyone there?" he called out.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ The empty mountains are silent, without echo.
In such a vast space, the sound was absorbed as if by a sponge, without any echo.
No one answered.
There is no one.
He turned around—and even Xu Fangfang and Du Liu were gone.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ The transparent cylinder remained. He reached out and touched it, and his hand went in without any hindrance. Inside the "bucket" was a small amount of liquid, warm and moist. But his body could not enter. He pulled his hand out, and the liquid quickly seeped out and flowed into the stream. When the liquid was gone, the stream flowed into the transparent cylinder, and at the bottom of the cylinder "bucket" appeared five characters that shimmered with purple light: --- The Magpie Bridge Fairy replied [39]: -- The Lord of the Tomb, A Ding ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ "Du Liu—Xu Fangfang—" he called out, but no one answered.
As if he had suddenly remembered something, he looked at his hands—his own hands—with a start, a chill, fear, and terror.
Fair, soft, and cool.
What he saw and heard while he was in a coma flooded into his mind.
White is deathly white, devoid of any blood; soft is boneless softness, so soft that it can be deformed at will like an amorphous lump of gel; ice is chillingly cold ice.
There was a small black mole on the palm of the left hand of the two hands.
(Rong? These are Rong's hands?)
Rong, where are you?
...Rong...Rong...Rong...Rong...Rong...Rong...Rong...Rong...Rong...Rong... He called out, running towards the distance. In the distance, there was a hazy light and shadow. He called out, shouting, yelling, shouting, running towards that hazy light and shadow in the distance. It was a cave. Dark and indistinct. Yes, in that cave, they had walked hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, through their last warm moments. And now, there was still someone in his hands, but where was the owner of those hands? Why was he left all alone? Yes, those were gentle little hands, full of love and affection, but now, those hands were no longer warm; they were softer, but now they were cold. Beside him, there were no longer those shy, passionate eyes, no longer the beautiful face and loving smile that he loved and who loved him. Rong, where are you? Where are you? Why won't you answer me? Rong, let's hold hands and walk towards the ever-brightening cave entrance. Let me accompany you, through mountains and rivers, never to be separated; through life and death, never to abandon you. Let's walk shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand, out of the darkness. Okay? Rong, why won't you answer me? Let's walk out of the darkness together, towards the sunlight, into the spring breeze, towards love, okay?
He called out, kept calling out.
He walked and walked.
Faint footsteps approached from ahead, getting closer... closer... ※ ...
This is a radial intersection.
But at that moment, they suddenly heard a mournful cry.
(A Ding? He's not dead?) In that instant, eight of the nine people were stunned, and the only one who was still conscious was Zhu Qian.
"Remember! [The rest of the text appears to be gibberish and unrelated to the previous sentences.]"
She said sternly.
※ ...
Someone was speaking—the voice was very clear—but there was no one around.
After sliding down the ravine, they came to a sloping mountain path, two meters wide, indistinguishable from the ravine itself. Walking and walking, the eight people arrived at a radial intersection.
The intersection resembled a web—a spider web. Chen Xing was the first to step onto the intersection, but suddenly froze, quickly leaping back.
"What's wrong?" Huang Zilan was startled.
"—Shh!" Chen Xing put a finger to his lips and whispered, "Someone's here."
"Is anyone there?" Xiao Chan sniffed twice. "Nobody." He stepped onto the intersection, but immediately leaped back.
Both moved swiftly and silently. Xiao Chan leaped back, then leaped out again, paused for a moment, and leaped back once more. Then he leaned close to the wall, listening intently.
"Strange. Why is there a sound but no one around?" Xiao Chan listened in surprise, then added, "Moreover, it can only be heard in the very center of the intersection."
"Could it be resonance transmission?" An Yingying asked.
"Resonance transmission?"
“Yes. It can be carried by an object, or by the environment and the air. If you can’t hear a sound when you lean over a wall, it must be carried by the environment—that is, by similar points made of the same structure and material. In this way, the sound may travel thousands of miles away, but it will sound as if it is right next to you,” An Yingying explained.
The leader walked out quietly, silently reached the intersection, then retreated, and then blew out a glow stick.
The green light was brilliant, and the eldest brother nodded.
"That's right. It's resonance transmission. Those are two strangers talking! [The rest of the text appears to be gibberish and unrelated to the previous sentences.]"
"Understood!" the seven replied in unison.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ Du Liuxing. He finally woke up and realized: (That was his inner demon. His own inner demon.) But why was he the one who couldn't suppress his inner demon in the first place?
He was confused, but his confused mind gradually cleared.
Yes, there are many reasons why it's uncontrollable. Despair. A mix of love and hate. Fear. Terror. And what else? What else?
He finally stopped being dazed.
That's it. All the problems are solved.
---Magpie Bridge Fairy
Reply [40]: — He has become even stronger. Even more invincible.
This is the result. The true result of all causes and all facts.
So why feel guilty? Why feel ashamed?
He stared at the amethyst once more.
At the focal point of the amethyst, the final image flashed: he was sitting in the driver's seat, his hands on the steering wheel.
—The car is heading straight for a wall.
It was a wall that shimmered with a chaotic light, a place that could only be described as "hell." But outside the "wall" lay the human world.
—High mountains. Flowing water. Birdsong. Fragrance of flowers. The distant bustling traffic…※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ (I can live. I must live. I must live. I will live.) —This was his only thought.
IV. Resonance
"Look. Two more little white dots. — Everyone's at the edge of the stream now!"
"I saw the light."
"If this is the city-like place marked on the map, then the increasingly narrow opening at the top should be our exit."
"The light is too weak. In the vision of the Spiritual Eye, the darker the place, the brighter it is; darkness only represents light. Since we cannot see the blue-green at the top, it must be a faint light. When we open our eyes, it is all darkness. When the light is too weak, it is indeed difficult for the eyes to distinguish—but is that really the exit?"
“I think so. Look—on the map, the two small white dots representing us are on the stream, the nine small white dots are on the same path as us, and the small white dots that were originally eight but are now ten are only separated from us by a wall. Only the brightest small white dot is separated from us by a layer. ... Strange, why is one small white dot missing? Did someone die again? ... Hmm, judging from the map, we can only enter the city and reach the exit when we reach the entrance at the top of the cave, or the very center of this mountain peak.”
“Now I really doubt whether those so-called little white dots are people. If they are, I really hope they can hear us talking and chat with us. To be honest, I’m getting hungrier and thirstier. The ‘fasting technique’ doesn’t seem to work for me anymore.”
"We woke up to find ourselves in this bizarre, incongruous place. There's only one explanation: we fell from above. It must have been over twenty meters. In everyday life, twenty meters would be fatal, but during sleep, the body's self-protective mechanisms, combined with our special abilities, naturally push our potential to its limit. It's possible we felt nothing. Besides, there are already too many strange phenomena in this tomb; a few more could certainly be explained. The problem now is: assuming that's the exit, how do we get up? And if it's not, how do we get down? — You see, on the map, we've indeed reached the exit. But whether we can get out 'up' or 'down', we can't determine at the moment."
"If that wasn't the exit, we were walking in the passageway before we woke up. But how could a hole suddenly appear in the passageway?"
"What's strange about it suddenly cracking open? It would be strange if it suddenly rose up. But one thing is certain: on the map, we are indeed near the exit."
"Go to hell! I'm fed up with this picture. If it's real, why is the brightest little white dot separated from us by a layer? The counterpart of that white dot is right there! [The rest of the text is nonsensical and appears to be gibberish.]"
"This is not hard to explain. You have to understand that we are at the very top of the 'protrusion,' and that 'layer' could very well be the middle ring road. As for the sound, why can't we assume he is deaf and mute? In short, the corresponding points on the map have already been confirmed, so it is clear that the exit must exist."