sastre

Capítulo 22

Teacher, I've said before that I don't have a father, and likewise, I don't need one.

Ye Min only snapped out of her daze when she heard Su Yan's short, urgent voice urging her from behind, and agreed to catch up with Yang Feng.

It's been many years since I last reminisced about these past events... Ye Min's tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed. Now, she's finally made it through.

Just then, the idiotic singing in her ears suddenly stopped. Ye Min found it strange and was about to ask why it stopped singing when she noticed Yang Feng staring blankly at the sky with his mouth open.

Ye Min naturally tilted her head back as well. What was this? She was stunned for a moment, not even noticing when Su Yan bumped into her.

Above them—no, rather, throughout the entire space except where they stood—the surroundings, which should have been dark, were now filled with countless tiny lights, like swarms of fireflies flying by. Although these points of light did not illuminate the entire cliff and ravine, they gave the three of them the illusion of being in a dazzling starry sky.

The sight was breathtakingly beautiful.

Ye Min opened her mouth, unable to speak. Gazing at the magnificent, star-like scenery, tears slowly welled up in her eyes.

That year, we chased after fireflies together, even though there were only a handful... But when you held the fireflies in your hands and excitedly told me how cute they were, your blissful face was forever etched in my heart.

forever.

A breeze stirred in the mountain stream, causing the bridge to sway. Ye Min noticed that the surrounding starlight also swayed with the wind. With the help of the flickering starlight, the dark surroundings became a play of light and shadow, appearing exceptionally colorful and dazzling, giving people a breathtaking beauty.

Section 183: The Thirteen Pitfalls of Resentment (7)

Hmm? Upon closer inspection, she finally understood...

Yang Feng had clearly noticed this as well. After steadying himself, he said to Ye Min and Su Yan, "These star-like things are actually hanging above their heads, around them. They seem to be ropes that have been lowered down, with some kind of luminous substance attached to the ends of the ropes. Don't be nervous, everyone..."

Yang Feng was right. Ye Min looked up and agreed with his guess. It seemed that the suspension bridge did not connect the cliff edge on the other side, but the cliff below.

This was somewhat unexpected for her.

2 stone chambers

I stared at the phosphorescent ropes hanging overhead, feeling a bit bewildered. A bridge is something of hope, something that connects the other side and brings two places closer together. How come... this side of the bridge is actually carved directly into the cliff face?

The sight of something hanging overhead, resembling a suspended coffin, sparked this thought. It's understandable that Earth's geography is so complex and unpredictable; often, the horizontal levels on either side of a cliff can differ significantly, resulting in one side being higher or lower. Based on the current situation, the side connected to the meadow behind us should be the lower side. The cliff top on the opposite side of the bridge, in comparison, seems to be much higher.

Moreover, this only passage was a rope suspension bridge, which, although incredibly dangerous, didn't seem to extend upwards or downwards. The bridge itself was positioned entirely on the same horizontal line as the meadow.

What will the view be like on the other side of the bridge...?

On the dazzling, star-studded suspension bridge, we cautiously climbed for nearly twenty minutes, and sure enough...

At the bridgehead before me, instead of the precarious cliff face on the other side, there was indeed, just as I had imagined, a sheer drop below! This ghost bridge was like an unbalanced scale, the lower part connecting to the cliff top we had come from, while the higher part connected to the opposite cliff face! Standing below, looking up, a sense of impending doom, like dark clouds pressing down on a city, filled me with dread. Only after confirming the exaggerated degree of steepness with my own eyes did I suddenly realize how incredibly steep the bridge had become…

As I thought, a bridge represents hope, so how could it just hang on a cliff for no reason? At the end of this suspension bridge, although it's not a flat road, there's a cave that was carved out by man on the sheer cliff face.

Section 184: Thirteen Pitfalls of Resentment (8)

The cave entrance remained unchanged, deep and eerie.

Could it be that the cliff top on the other side is too high, making it inconvenient to build a bridge, but not crossing would be uncomfortable, so they insisted on building a bridge, even digging a tunnel to create a path where there was none? I'm puzzled. Oh well, the reasons for doing this are now impossible to verify. In any case, now that we're here, we have to keep going. Although the cave in front of us doesn't look like a safe place, it's still more reliable than the suspension bridge hanging over this bottomless abyss.

In a moment of crisis, who has the leisure to appreciate the magnificent, perilous landscape? Right or wrong aside, get off the bridge immediately!

After being dangled and swayed for over an hour, we finally left that rope suspension bridge that had filled us with dread.

Inside the cave nestled against the cliff face, still shaken, Ye Min suddenly screamed. Su Yan and I were both startled. When we came to our senses, I realized Ye Min was curled up, covered in sweat, her whole body convulsing. I helped her up and noticed her face was shockingly pale, and her calf, scratched by the strange insect, was swollen.

The poison has taken effect!

The thought had barely crossed my mind when I immediately hoisted Ye Min onto my back and shouted to Su Yan beside me, "Hurry up!" With that, I carried Ye Min up the winding stone path in the cave.

Su Yan was stunned by Ye Min's appearance, and I was also extremely anxious, so I didn't examine the cave carefully.

The stone path had countless steps, long and steep. I was panting heavily after only a short while carrying Ye Min on my back. Ye Min had stopped trembling and was silent. I felt a little nervous; could it be…?

Su Yan touched me from behind and told me, "Sister Ye Min is alright, she's still breathing, just very weakly. We have to hurry." Hearing this, I mustered all my strength and climbed straight up. Ye Min, why is your luck so bad? Nobody else got scratched by that bug, but you were the one who did, and it just so happens that the bug is poisonous!

I grumbled as I climbed the steps, my head spinning, but the higher I went, the steeper the stone steps became. I'd never climbed a ladder this steep before—was it deliberately torturing me? After panting for about ten minutes, we finally escaped the endless, swirling stone steps and reached a small stone chamber. Ye Min hadn't been poisoned, but I was exhausted.

When I put her down, it was easy to see that she was even more tired than I was. Even so, I was still out of breath. Before I could even put Ye Min down, she was already looking around anxiously. Where was she now?

Section 185: The Thirteen Pitfalls of Resentment (9)

The stone chamber wasn't large, roughly the same size as the thatched hut where we kept our luggage—though the sizes were similar, it was very clean. I looked around several times and noticed that the four walls of the stone chamber were smooth and shiny, without any decorations or patterns. There was no furniture, nothing at all, except for the three of us. But…

On the rock face behind us, besides a stone path that continues to climb upwards, there is a dark stone gate next to the stone steps.

Curiosity drove my feet involuntarily, and I slowly approached the stone door that might hold stories hidden in its dust.

After a careful inspection, I noticed that this dark little corner wasn't even a proper stone door—the entrance was dilapidated, and tangled cobwebs almost completely covered the waist-high stone door. Ye Min's complexion had improved somewhat by then, so I asked Su Yan to take care of her while I strolled closer to the stone door and used my free hand to tear away the cobwebs one by one. Perhaps there was some treasure inside?

No...maybe it contains the antidote for the strange poison on Ye Min's leg...I'm just speculating.

Only one of the two stone doors was closed, while the other was ajar. As soon as I finished brushing away the thick, cotton-like spiderwebs, a putrid, foul odor wafted out from inside.

Achoo!

I stumbled back a few steps, almost falling to the ground. The smell behind the stone door was even stronger than the ever-present formaldehyde odor in the hospital; it was suffocating me. I had no choice but to back away and wait for the smell to dissipate before I cautiously approached again. What I saw there left me speechless.

Behind the waist-high stone door, I had imagined a small, hidden cabinet, perhaps containing something. But upon closer inspection, I realized I was wrong. There was nothing behind the stone door, just a passageway. Where it led was uncertain, but I was certain it was very long, because I could see nothing but darkness. Even so, a faint but continuous breeze blew from within, feeling refreshingly cool on my face.

Is it also a passageway?

Oh no, I have to choose again.

I glanced at the stone gate beneath my feet, then at the stone steps beside it. Hmm...it's obvious this time the choice isn't difficult; we should go...

"Let's go into the stone tunnel," Ye Min said weakly, as if she had come back to life.

Section 186: Thirteen Pitfalls of Resentment (10)

Hearing her speak, I turned back to her side, and she seemed to have pulled through again. Although she was still listless, her complexion had improved slightly—however, her swollen calf hadn't changed much; it hadn't healed as expected and still peeked out from the tear in Ye Min's trouser leg like a bright red fairy wand.

Now, she can barely speak, but what she says is very strange.

"Why go through that dark tunnel? Wouldn't it be better to just keep going up the stone stairs?" Before I could even question her, the girl with plain skin blurted out the question. She was right; I had indeed wanted to ask that too. The stone tunnel behind that door was bottomless; it might be the lair of some kind of snake king… And even if it was a mountain passage, where did it lead? Okay, even if none of that mattered, how were we going to get through it? Given its height and width, we'd have to climb.

Do you have claustrophobia? I'm sorry to say I do.

If I had to go through a tunnel, I would absolutely refuse. What if the tunnel gets narrower and narrower? Wouldn't we be stuck inside, unable to get out or back out? What if there's something in there? We wouldn't even have a chance to fight back!

I have a lot of questions for Ye Min. I don't know why she didn't want to continue climbing the stone path and steps but instead wanted to go through the dark tunnel behind the stone gate. But no matter what, I have to be clear: I don't think going there is a wise move.

Ye Min didn't answer Su Yan's question; she just glanced at me and repeated it.

"Let's go into the stone tunnel."

When she said it a second time, I saw her eyes. They were very deep, but also filled with a complex emotion. It looked like pity.

I was stunned. Ye Min wasn't usually like this. How could this be…? Had the insect poison spread throughout her body, including infecting her mind? Otherwise, why would she say such nonsensical things? Anyone in our situation wouldn't act like her, wouldn't want to go through the tunnel like she did. I suddenly remembered a Chinese ghost movie I'd seen before. It was about a group of people who went on a picnic in the mountains and came across a dilapidated mansion. The mansion was haunted, and the group died or scattered. In the end, only two were left, and just when they were about to escape, the male lead was possessed by a ghost. In the end, he tricked and coaxed the female lead into the tomb of the Ghost King…

Section 187: Thirteen Pitfalls of Resentment (11)

Thinking of those incredibly corny old commercial ghost movies, I suddenly couldn't help but shudder. It's so similar! Ye Min's expression in front of me is exactly the same as the male lead's expression when he mutated in that ghost movie!

I didn't know what to say. The situation had changed so suddenly that I couldn't quite accept it. Ye Min repeated her obsession with that strange stone path twice. This situation left me somewhat dumbfounded. My tongue trembled, and somehow, I turned to Su Yan with a forced smile and asked, "Um... what do you think?"

I couldn't convince myself anymore, so I had to pin my hopes on a third person, Su Yan. At this moment, I desperately hoped she could say something that was both agreeable and truthful. Even if it couldn't sway Ye Min, as long as it moved me, I would still give it serious consideration.

To everyone's surprise, without even thinking, Su Yan blurted out a whole string of questions like a cannon: "How do we get through that dark tunnel? Climb it? It looks so scary! We don't even know where it leads. It's not like there's no way out here. Aren't those stone steps pretty good? We can just go uphill and we should be able to get to the surface quickly!"

crackling and popping...

How come she's just like Lü Fang... I suddenly felt that this girl was a bit like that old hag, with the face of an eighteen-year-old but the heart of an eighty-year-old, and she was so damn talkative.

It seems I can't count on her anymore; she's acting like a shrew now... So after I waved my hand to interrupt her, I tried to persuade Ye Min in a kind manner: "Let's just keep going up the stone stairs... forget about the tunnel... it looks pretty good..." But before I could finish, Ye Min interrupted me.

"Do you want to go with this vixen?"

I was stunned: "You... what did you say?"

Ye Min sneered a few times: "I asked you if you want to go with that vixen Su Yan? What? Don't you understand?"

In my memory, from the first day I met Ye Min until yesterday when we entered the "dormitory," whether before or after she became my girlfriend, she always presented herself as timid and gentle in front of me. What I mean is, she understood that I was the kind of man who "rules the game in the world of relationships," so she never and never dared to talk back to me, let alone speak to me in that tone.

Therefore, at that moment I simply couldn't believe my ears: "Are you out of your mind?"

Section 188: Thirteen Pitfalls of Resentment (12)

Ye Min's tone was icy: "Choose."

One sentence drove me to the brink of despair.

I started to believe my guess was right; she was definitely not the same Ye Min anymore! I abruptly pulled Su Yan away from Ye Min, who was sitting on the ground, and, suppressing my emotions, said to Ye Min, word by word, "I don't know what you're talking about, but no matter what, we're not going to go through that tunnel. Forget about it! Either you come with us and walk along the stone path, and I'll help you; or you sit here and wait for me to go back to the car to get some first-aid supplies before I come back to find you!"

I don't know why I suddenly said such hurtful things to her, but these are indeed the things I wanted to say.

Ye Min smiled silently. She always had a beautiful smile, I don't deny that, but now…

It just gives me the creeps!

3 Thirteen Pit of Resentment

Holding Su Yan's slender hand, we had already escaped quite a distance from the stone chamber where Ye Min had been. I hadn't planned to stop, but I only stopped when Su Yan was too exhausted to run any further. We both lay panting on the stone steps for a while before Su Yan, still out of breath, asked me, "Is it okay to just leave Sister Ye Min there like that?"

I wiped the sweat from my forehead, wanting to say of course not, but what came out was: "She might not be the same Xiaomin anymore. Have you noticed the changes in her legs?"

She nodded at me with a look of fear on her face and said, "She said it was a scratch."

"A scratch?" A thought flashed through my mind. Wow, not bad. Then I said to Su Yan, "How could that be? A scratch wouldn't be that bad. It must have been bitten by a monster!"

When I mentioned this word, she didn't dare to breathe loudly. I was afraid of scaring her, so I didn't tell her the specific details. I just briefly described Ye Min's symptoms.

The young girl's face turned pale after hearing this, and she kept asking me what to do, what to do. I told her gravely, "Ye Min's mental state is starting to deteriorate due to the spread of the poison. Taking her with us might not be good for any of us. Besides, you saw it yourself, she doesn't want to come with us at all and insists on going through some tunnel. I suspect there's a trap. Let's put her in that stone chamber for now. It doesn't seem dangerous there, as long as we get back in time. I have a first-aid kit in my car. After we get out, you go and call the police and get help. I'll take the kit and come find her first."

Section 189: Thirteen Pitfalls of Resentment (13)

I spoke with great conviction, but I didn't realize that I and Horse Face were actually the same kind of people.

After I finished speaking, Su Yan's expression seemed a little unsettled. After a moment of confusion, she urged me anxiously, "Then let's hurry up and get out of here!"

I wanted to too, but right now I can barely even swallow. How come I didn't realize how tired I was while running? I forced myself to swallow and waved to her, "Right now...right now, let me catch my breath."

Before I could even catch my breath, Su Yan grabbed my arm tightly. I looked up in confusion, wanting to ask her, "Why are you being so proactive?" But I found an incredulous and terrifying expression on Su Yan's face.

She pointed behind me, her voice trembling. I wondered what was wrong and turned around, but didn't see anything abrupt. Upon closer inspection, I realized that many murals had now appeared on the walls of the stone passage.

What is she drawing now? Upon closer inspection, I also tightly gripped her delicate, bare arm.

Many rough sketches of varying sizes are crookedly drawn on the stone wall. They are called "rough sketches" because the people, scenes, or other things depicted in these sketches are all drawn on the wall with simple lines—simple, yet very easy to understand.

The chicks were very bloody.

I examined several of the images closely, and a cold sweat broke out on my brow. The things depicted in the patterns on the inner walls of the cliff face resembled some kind of evil ritual. While I don't know much about this subject, I've heard a bit about it. Some things are very mysterious, and some evil rituals, like summoning ghosts or souls, are of course partly true and partly false. The Five Blind Stars array in foreign horror movies, however, left a very deep impression on me, but I won't go into detail here.

With a quick glance, I realized that starting from the stone chamber, the inner walls of the mountain path were covered with similar patterns. The entire wall was densely covered with carvings, and upon closer inspection, I suddenly felt a chill. What made me even more uneasy was that I saw something clearly outlined on the stone wall behind Su Yan.