pozo profundo

Capítulo 50

He couldn't remember exactly how he felt at the time, or perhaps he didn't want to remember it in his subconscious. Only the crazy act and the exhilarating feeling afterward were unforgettable. Of course, the other person's incredulous gaze and desperate screams accompanied him like a ghostly nightmare for three whole years.

A strange light permeated the air, hazy and gray. Even the brick walls appeared to be covered with a layer of gray film, while the viscous liquid on the surface was slowly wriggling and converging in one place.

In a hazy state, I seemed to see another face, a face exactly like my own.

Gradually, the liquid coalesced into the outline of a human figure, just like a silhouette standing behind a brick wall. He gasped, his whole body trembling, his clenched hands drenched in cold sweat.

"Impossible! No one but her could know! Nobody could know this secret!" He shook his head frantically, trying to banish the scene from his mind. But fate was against him; the bricks in the human-shaped outline were beginning to show signs of being pushed out from the inside, as if someone behind the wall was trying to knock them away!

He wanted to escape, but his body was already stiff. He could only watch helplessly as a withered, brown arm emerged from the brick wall, its fingers claw-like, with what appeared to be blood from digging through the wall.

A loud crash echoed as the wall collapsed, and a somewhat humanoid object struggled to its feet, immediately filling the air with the pungent stench of rotting protein. The object's face was mangled beyond recognition, with only one eye dangling from its jawbone, staring erratically at him. Its head was split open, spilling yellowish-white brain matter. Its stiff, swaying body moved forward, causing its drooping eye to swing back and forth like a pendulum.

"Are you a human... or a... ghost?" He managed to squeeze out a sound from his throat and asked.

The humanoid object did not answer, but continued to hop towards him, its withered, rotting, pus-filled hand landing on his shoulder. A strange tone gurgled from the object's abdomen, saying, "Only one can live."

********

I stared intently at Tsukihime, as if trying to discern something from her eyes. Unfortunately, her eyes were as calm as a stagnant pool, and I couldn't see either the panic that was deceiving me or the sincerity that wanted me to believe.

"Only one can survive," Tsukihime said softly to me. "This is the fate of twins."

"Nonsense!" I immediately denied her statement, my loud voice echoing through the empty mountainside, "Every life that comes into this world has its value."

"Oh, really?" Tsukihime smiled slightly, almost questioning me, "Then if they are exactly the same, why are there two? Isn't the second one redundant?"

"Even though we were born from the same womb, even though we look exactly alike, we have different souls!" I thought of my older sister, Lin Yao. Although we look very similar, we have completely different personalities. Neither of us is superfluous; we are both unique souls in this world.

"Hehe, that's wonderful!" Yueji wasn't angered by my tone, but instead smiled sadly and said, "If only the clansmen had the same thoughts as you. Unfortunately, time cannot be turned back, and the clan rules cannot be changed."

"Then let me go!" I looked at Tsukihime in front of me, knowing that now was the best time to get help.

Yueji looked at me silently for a while, and finally sighed, saying, "It's ahead." She pointed ahead and added, "There are two identical paths ahead, one leading to the exit, and the other to death. As for which one to take, that depends on your fate."

"Thank you!" Although there was only a fifty percent chance, it was better than nothing, and I nodded gratefully to her. I turned to leave, but she called me back.

"You should always make sure you know who you can trust." Tsukihime's words left me a bit confused. What did she mean? Was she telling me to be careful about the people around me?

I nodded blankly at her and ran forward. Soon, two paths appeared before me. They were exactly the same, dark, damp, cold, and eerily terrifying. I couldn't tell which one led to the exit.

Can even the Road be twinned? The Moonshadow Clan is not just obsessed with twins, they are obsessed with them! And one of them is born while the other dies. Is it really true that only one of them can survive?

Volume 2 The Devil's Left Eye Chapter 24 Dead End?

Volume 2 The Devil's Left Eye Chapter 24 Dead End?

Two seemingly identical paths, yet one is destined to give you life while the other leads to death. Such a choice is not easy. Just like me right now, I've been agonizing over these two paths for a long time, but I just can't figure out which one to take. When a simple left or right becomes a matter of life and death, no one can make a decision easily.

I took a deep breath and stared at the two equally dark roads, not a single ray of light piercing through them. Gu Cheng once said: "Darkness gave me black eyes, but I use them to seek the light." So where is my light now?

Black eyes! A chill ran down my spine as I suddenly realized that these two paths were actually the entrances to two caves, round and paired, just like... the eyes of a demon!

The demon's left eye? My body involuntarily moved towards the right-hand opening. Was the right-hand opening the exit to life? I glanced at the left-hand opening, where a mournful whistling sound carried the chilling wind.

Okay, it's decided! The right side will do, and my foot is already halfway in.

"Ah~~~~!" A woman's scream suddenly came from the hole on the left. I was startled. Although it was only one scream, I heard it very clearly. It was A Bao's voice!

Fang Lei should be there too, right? I pulled back my foot that had already stepped into the right-hand cave, turned around, and hurriedly darted into the left-hand cave. When I came to my senses, it was too late; in an instant, the original cave entrance vanished behind me. The sliver of light that had been there was swallowed up by the menacing darkness within the cave, leaving no trace.

"Abao, Fang Lei!" I shouted ahead. Now that I was already in, there was no going back. Besides, it was really shameful to try to escape alone!

No one answered. I felt my heart pounding, as if a huge rock was being squeezed into my chest. I felt uneasy, fearful, anxious, and irritable.

Continuing to grope forward in the darkness, I held onto the not-so-wide mountain wall with my hands. The cold dew immediately soaked my palms, chilling me to the bone.

Suddenly, I felt like I tripped over something, almost causing me to fall to the ground. My hand instinctively reached out and touched it, immediately feeling a cold object against my skin. It seemed to be a stone, not very big, with many dents on it. Strangely, this stone wasn't as hard as other stones; instead, it had a slight elasticity, feeling like rubber cracked in the winter.

What was that? I frowned, but it was too dark to see anything clearly. I stumbled on and continued walking, still feeling uneasy about the strange stone from before.

Holding onto the wall, the further I walked, the more difficult the path became. There were always things scattered on the ground, and sometimes if I accidentally kicked one, it would roll away with a crackling sound, just like the sound of bones colliding together.

Could it be that the ground is covered with bones? I shook my head, trying to banish the thought from my mind. There were just too many things scattered around. If it really was all bones, how many people's bones would it take?

After walking for a while, a faint purple light suddenly appeared ahead, which excited me like the morning star in the dark night!

"Fang Lei, A Bao!" I saw two familiar figures in the purple light, and... I stopped in my tracks, or rather, my body froze on the spot!

The purple light that gave me hope didn't only contain the figures of Fang Lei and A Bao. In a daze, there were countless figures standing in front of me, their faces in the dim light all filled with fear and stiffness.

I took a few more steps forward, and the purple light allowed me to see my surroundings clearly. I immediately gasped and finally understood why Abao had screamed earlier!

Scattered all around the mountainside and on the ground were the remains of long-desiccated corpses: hands bent into claws, arms shriveled into thin strands, legs tangled together, dark brown torsos, and heads with expressions of astonishment—a scene resembling the depths of hell. These corpses, instead of turning to bones, had been mummified. Normally, a corpse cannot mummify without special processing; of course, naturally desiccated corpses due to dry, cold climates cannot be ruled out. However, given the unusually damp and cold environment here, the production of such a large number of mummified corpses was utterly inconceivable. Even more astonishing and chilling were the heads; the expressions of terror and despair seemed to linger on their faces, yet they had been dried into mummy-like, dark brown, shriveled surfaces, wrinkled like rubber damaged in winter! So, were those the strange stones I had touched earlier?

"Lin Xiao!" Fang Lei called out urgently from ahead, and two figures were already running towards me at high speed.

"Fang Lei!" When I finally saw Fang Lei safe and sound, half of the weight in my heart was lifted. I tightly hugged the soft, warm body of the woman who rushed towards me, which gave me a slight sense of life again.

"Are you alright?" I asked with concern, looking at Fang Lei in my arms and A Bao in front of me.

"It's alright, where are you?" Fang Lei stepped out of my embrace, holding the lotus hairpin that was emitting a purple light in one hand and touching my body with the other, and said.

"I'm fine too. By the way, how did you get here? Did Tsukihime give you directions?" I asked curiously.

"Yue Ji? Who is she?" A Bao, whose face was still a little pale, asked, "After the mechanism was activated earlier, Fang Lei and I were locked in a secret room. Later, we finally found a mechanism to get out, but we couldn't find you anywhere! So we just kept walking and ended up here!"

"You didn't encounter Tsukihime?" I scratched my head. Was I the only one who did? I touched the book still on my chest. Could what I just saw not have been a hallucination?

"What happened?" Fang Lei grabbed my clothes anxiously and asked.

"Oh, is that so?" I hugged Fang Lei, who was shivering a little from the cold, and told them everything that had just happened.

After hearing what I said, Fang Lei suddenly looked sad and murmured, "If that's the case, wouldn't it mean we led you down a dead end?"

"Hehe!" I suddenly burst out laughing, playfully flicking Fang Lei's pert nose, and said, "Silly girl, who knows if the right side is life or death? But one thing I'm sure of..."

Holding Fang Lei's cold little hand, I stared into her eyes and said, word by word, "Without you, the path to life has become a path to death!"

"You..." Fang Lei sniffled, her voice choked with emotion, tears welling in her eyes, reflecting a purple light as bright as stars. She grasped my hand tightly. Our hands clasped together like that. At that moment, we knew nothing could separate us. Even if we couldn't live together, dying together wouldn't be so bad!

"Alright, alright, please pay attention to me, okay?" A Bao's helpless voice came mercilessly at this moment, shattering our most touching moment.

Fang Lei chuckled, amused by A Bao's expression that seemed to say, "Don't treat me like I'm invisible." I smiled back at A Bao, equally amused. Even in this secret passage filled with the remains of corpses, we hadn't lost the courage to laugh.

"Alright, let's look for a way out now!" I suggested.

“Okay.” Abao and Fang Lei nodded, and the three of them continued on their way with the help of the faint purple light on the lotus hairpin. The purple light shone on the withered corpses, giving off an eerie glow, as if they were in hell. The cold gazes of the mummies around them made them feel uncomfortable.

Carefully avoiding the scattered remains of the corpses on the ground, I walked closely beside Fang Lei. My palms were already slightly sweaty, and my stomach was starting to rumble with hunger. After all, I hadn't eaten anything since morning, and my stomach felt like it was being ripped apart by a knife. Swallowing and chewing had become the most urgent actions I longed for.

"Which one do you think is better, Yuewa or Yueji?" Fang Lei suddenly asked me.

"Of course it's Yue Ji, she gave Lin Xiao directions!" A Bao, who was walking next to me, answered first.

“But Yuewa gave me that book!” I said. If she was really bad, why did she keep her promise to Lin Yuyan? Besides, the path Yueji pointed out was also very problematic. If she was good, why didn’t she just point out the way to survival?

"Forget it, let's not think about it anymore." Fang Lei shook her head and said, "Let's find a way out, if there is one."

Fang Lei's tone was somewhat dejected, and I sighed helplessly. No one would have any positive thoughts in this kind of environment! Looking at the corpses and remains around me, I suddenly felt as if they were slowly moving, and the left eye on their heads was staring at us like a living thing, staring at the three humans who had disturbed their slumber!

I quickened my pace unconsciously, feeling an increasing sense of powerlessness, not physical but psychological. It was as if the endless cave was filled with scattered corpses and remains. Although there were only three people with signs of life, I felt as if countless eyes were staring at me. This unsettling yet unfounded thought confused me. It seemed that I had really wasted my time as a forensic doctor!

Upon closer inspection of the corpses, I noticed many had been beheaded or had their limbs severed while still alive. Who could be so cruel? Whose bodies were these? Frowning, I suddenly thought of the Moonshadow Clan, wiped out decades ago. Could these be the corpses of their people? If so, then it must have been some warlord who killed them. Such cruel methods—truly cold-blooded soldiers, all for jewels and money that one cannot take with them in death. What was the point? The same race, killing each other for cold, metallic objects! Humanity, since ancient times, has derived pleasure from slaughter!

Sigh! I really shouldn't be thinking about such philosophical things right now. My biggest wish right now is to get out of here alive and not have to keep them company!

*********

Looking at the little boy in front of him, Li Yang no longer felt fear, but rather a deep-seated contempt and pity. There shouldn't be only one who survives!

"Brother, be careful!" Li Yang's eyes were still fixed on the boy's pale and haggard face.

A glint of malice flashed in the boy's eyes—a glint not befitting a child, but rather that of a heinous criminal! This was Li Yang's only thought at that moment. Glancing at Li Hai, where the white light seemed to be intensifying, a glimmer of hope rose in Li Yang's heart.

"Only one can live! If he doesn't die, then you die!" The boy uttered a hoarse, manly voice, his eyes gleaming with triumph, as one hand emerged from behind the black glass.

"Damn it!" Cursing under his breath, Li Yang, a policeman, quickly dodged away. His body swayed to the right, and a sharp pain shot through his injured right arm. His other pale, withered hand gripped the wound tightly, causing blood to seep through the white cloth covering it.

"Li Yang!" Li Hai's concerned voice rang out, but Li Yang was already too overwhelmed by the intense pain to speak. The claws gripping his right arm felt like five sharp hooks, deeply embedded in his flesh, and he could even feel them twisting and penetrating. His entire nervous and sensory system seemed to have shrunk to just his right arm in that instant; the pain and numbness made countless spinning stars appear before his eyes. Cold sweat streamed from his temples down his neck and into his chest.

"Break!" A beam of yellow light shot out from Li Hai just in time, striking the hand that was gripping Li Yang with incredible accuracy.

Sizzle! It was almost the sound of something being burned. The hand opened weakly like a falling leaf and fell to the ground!

Damn it! Li Yang, who had just been rescued, stumbled back a few steps, staring in horror at the arm on the ground that was still emitting black smoke and trembling incessantly.

"Watch out!" Li Hai shouted, charging forward. A flash of white light passed before Li Yang's eyes, and the little boy who had been pouncing was cleaved in two by the Antarctic Star Sword. A cracking sound, like something shattering, echoed as the boy instantly disintegrated from the inside, like a ceramic sculpture. Brilliant red blood slowly seeped from the black cracks, flowing down his pale face, hands, and body, like a bath in blood. His body scattered like fragments, only his blood-red eyes standing out starkly against the white body pieces.

"Ah~~!" Before Li Yang could even breathe a sigh of relief, Li Hai's scream was like another claw gripping his wound, making him tremble all over.

Turning around, he discovered that Li Hai's back had been scratched by the bloody claw, and the warm blood immediately filled the air with the smell of blood.

It must be because Li Hai was in such a hurry to save him that he couldn't take care of that blood claw! Li Yang felt guilty and helped Li Hai up, but Li Hai struggled away.

Turning around, gritting his teeth against the pain in his back, Li Hai ripped open his shirt. Suddenly, the cyan jade pendant emitted a dazzling cyan light, striking down at the oncoming blood claw.

Just as flames meet water, the blood claw vanished without a trace in the blue light, and the surroundings suddenly fell silent again, with only the heavy breathing of the Li brothers alternating.

"How are you?" Li Yang asked, supporting Li Hai. Bright red blood was rapidly staining Li Hai's entire back, gushing out incessantly.

"Nonsense, of course it hurts!" Li Haiqiang calmly rolled his eyes at Li Yang and said, "If it weren't for the move my master specifically taught me before we came here, probably only one of us would have survived!"

"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!" Li Yang immediately spat on the ground and said, "Children say the darndest things, children say the darndest things!"

"Heh heh!" Li Hai's face contorted in pain, yet he still tried to laugh, though it only intensified the pain. He said, "I'm not a child anymore! Besides, haven't you always been someone who doesn't believe in this stuff?"

"Yeah, I didn't believe it before! But now that things are like this, how can I not believe it?" Li Yang sighed helplessly. What a mess! It's all so confusing!

"Ah! Then...then now..." Li Hai's words were starting to catch his breath: "We're really trapped...trapped!"

"Don't be discouraged! Look!" Li Yang pointed to a door that had suddenly appeared on the wall and said, "There's always a way out!"

"There's definitely something strange about this door!" Despite saying that, Li Hai had already been dragged to the door by Li Yang.

"Who cares if it's ancient or strange, as long as we can get out of this damn secret room!" Without thinking, Li Yang opened the door, and a cold wind rushed in.

Looking at the dark passageway before him, and then at the pale-faced Li Hai, Li Yang felt the warm, sticky blood on his hand as he supported Li Hai's waist. There was no time to think. Li Yang gritted his teeth and helped Li Hai out of the secret chamber with difficulty.

"Don't worry, as long as we find Abao, you might be alright!" Clearly, Li Yang had already regarded Abao as the most portable first-aid kit.

"Well...that depends on...whether we can find it or not!" Li Haiqiang replied, trying to sound cheerful.

"Don't worry, it's not just one who's going to survive!" Li Yang said, a little angry. I wonder if that counts as self-consolation?