Erreur Yin et Yang

Chapitre 30

A beam of light shone directly on the black mummy's chest. It looked down, then, overjoyed, pounced on the flashlight, grabbed the handle, and with a sharp tug of its right hand, forced open the mouth of the head behind the golden mask, pulling it out along with the mask. The flashlight, now free from the demon's jaws, instantly filled the room with light.

I figured shooting this giant mummy with a pistol would be a waste of bullets, so I took advantage of the moment when the black mummy was engrossed in playing with its flashlight and tiptoed toward a stone door I saw.

Before I could even reach the stone gate, the black mummy had already silently charged over, grabbed the severed mummy's torso that was still tightly hugging my waist, and with a violent shake, threw me back into the room, almost knocking me over into the potion pool.

With a cry of pain, I fell headfirst against the wall of the medicinal pool. This headfirst fall really hurt me. I landed on the ground, almost unable to breathe, holding my breath and my face turning purple and hot.

The black mummy strolled by as if it were walking on air, shining its wolf-eye flashlight at me before lunging at me with lightning speed. It grabbed my right arm, swung me around a few times in the air, and then slammed me against the stone door. My head buzzed, and I felt a hot, burning liquid running down my nose—damn it, I had a nosebleed! I was in so much pain I was doubled over on the ground.

Suddenly, the stone door opened, squeezing me behind it. A flashlight beam, accompanied by scattered footsteps, rushed in from outside. It must be Shirley Yang. Shirley Yang turned around, slammed the door shut, frantically bolted the stone bolt, turned back around, took a breath, and upon seeing the beam of the wolf-eye flashlight inside, exclaimed with delight, "Hu Bayi, I'm here!"

Before I could even agree, Shirley Yang raised her flashlight and was horrified to discover that the wolf-eye flashlight came from the hand of a pitch-black mummy. She gaped in shock and turned away, unsure of where to run.

Enduring the brutal trampling and torment of Shirley Yang's right hand, which was holding a gun, I whispered, "Yang, I'm here."

Hearing the voices below, Shirley Yang's legs trembled with fright. She turned her wolf-eye flashlight and shone it down, but the first thing she noticed was the headless mummy's torso on my back. Before she could take a closer look, she delivered a vicious kick to my stomach, making me cry out in pain.

Just as she was about to run away, I saw the black mummy with the wolf-eye flashlight dash forward silently, rushing up behind the panicked Shirley Yang, raising its ghostly claws, and grabbing heavily at her neck.

Volume Two: The Four Kingdoms Campaign, Chapter Sixty-One: The Sun God Stone and the Sphinx

In that critical moment, I forgot about my numerous wounds, raised my hand, and with a bang, shot right into the right eye socket of the black mummy behind Shirley Yang.

Shirley Yang jumped in fright, the bullet whizzing past her. Only then did she notice me hunched over behind the door like a giant shrimp. Oh dear, not only my hands, but my head had been pinched hard when she opened the door, almost flattened.

I raised my hand and fired two more shots. The powerful impact of the bullets sent the black mummy staggering backward. Shirley Yang seized the opportunity to run towards me, helped me up, and looked at the headless mummy on my back in astonishment, saying, "How could this happen?"

I shoved her aside and faced the black mummy charging at me again. When it grabbed my chest with one hand, I became ferocious, threw away my pistol, grabbed its head with both hands, and with a sharp twist and tug, tore its head off and threw it far away, where it landed in the potion pool.

Even so, I was thrown quite a distance. Fortunately, this time I landed on my back, and with the headless mummy on my back cushioning my fall, it wasn't too bad.

The headless black mummy stumbled a few steps, crashed into the wall, and its body fell apart with a crash. Shirley Yang rushed over, helped me up, and, fighting off her nausea, used a folding entrenching tool to cut off the white cloth arm that was tightly gripping my waist, finally freeing me from the heavy burden on my back.

Seeing my bruised and swollen face, she wiped the blood from my nose and gently put a band-aid on it. I staggered over, used an entrenching tool to chop off the black mummy's finger, and took the wolf-eye flashlight stuck on the gold mask.

When I asked her what had just happened, Shirley Yang replied that the instant she walked across the stone path, she was suddenly thrown into the stone house by a great force. When she looked back, there was nothing there. In a daze, she felt as if she had stepped on a mechanism in the passageway floor. Before she could think about it, she was thrown onto the stone bed. Before she could even get up, the stone bed carried her to an underground secret room.

As she spoke, she pointed to the secret chamber behind the stone door and continued, "That chamber was filled with various instruments of torture, and there seemed to be several human skin artifacts hanging on the wall." Before she could take a closer look, she was chased around by a strange thing illuminated by the wolf-eye flashlight, nearly losing her life. She finally found the stone door and rushed inside, only to bump into me and the mummy.

Damn, why are all the things in here sensitive to light?

I put my arm around Shirley Yang's trembling shoulders, and we both found a clean spot on the ground to sit down and rest for a while. I noticed a strange phenomenon: it seemed that recently, under the influence of our harmonious relationship, Shirley Yang had become more and more feminine, but at the same time, she had also become more and more delicate and timid.

After I whispered these words into her soft earlobe, Shirley Yang blushed and playfully punched my shoulder with her fist, saying coquettishly, "You're so naughty."

We sat huddled together for a while, then glanced at our watches and realized it was already 2:30 AM. We had things to do quickly, so I helped Shirley Yang to her feet and looked around, but couldn't find any other exit from the room.

Aside from the stone door, I calmly glanced at Shirley Yang. Shirley Yang fell silent, hesitated for a moment, and then whispered, "That strange thing is terrifying; it has immense strength and can't be killed by a pistol."

Are we going to be trapped and die under this Great Pyramid? I was silent for a moment, looked at the backpack on Shirley Yang's back, and said, "How about we use the Soul-Suppressing Bead to deal with it?"

Shirley Yang nodded, then shook her head and said, "I don't know."

Looking at the peaceful space behind the stone gate, I felt inexplicably afraid. But thinking about my current situation, I mustered my courage, kissed Shirley Yang's forehead, and said, "It's okay, I'm here for you."

Armed with an entrenching tool, I stealthily approached the stone door, gently unlatched it, and slipped into the stone chamber behind it. In the light of my wolf-eye flashlight, the chamber was a mess. Against the wall lay a stone slab, and a row of gleaming knives of varying widths and lengths adorned the walls—like surgical instruments from a biological laboratory. This must have been a mummy-making lab. Closer still, several thin human skins hung on the wall, their outlines clearly those of adult men, gazing down at us with terrifying intensity. At first glance, they looked like pieces of clothing.

Apart from that, the stone chamber was empty; there were no incredibly strong monsters to be seen.

I turned to look at Shirley Yang with suspicion. Just as I was about to speak, Shirley Yang, who was lying behind me, pointed in terror at the collapsed stone.

I turned around and, holy crap, a gigantic monster suddenly appeared behind the stone bed. It was covered in yellow fur, but its neck had a human-face-shaped head wrapped in white cloth. When it fully revealed itself, I was astonished to find that it was a typical sphinx.

Its body was as big as a calf. Seeing this, I felt sorry for Shirley Yang. How did she manage to escape from the clutches of this monster?

This sphinx looks so strange. Could it be that the pharaohs of ancient Egypt chanted spells, placed the head of a dead mummy pharaoh on the body of a living lion, added some secret medicine, and created this monster?

Before I could speak, the guy leaped up and lunged at us. I shoved Shirley Yang aside, dodged to the side, and brandished my sharp German entrenching tool, aiming a vicious blow at his back. But it felt like hitting a rock; the tool bounced high off my hand, and my hand went numb from the impact.

The sphinx, unable to stop in time, nearly crashed into the stone gate. As if possessed by a spirit, it turned to face us, poised to pounce. I swung my entrenching tool, and the creature swayed, instead lunging towards Shirley Yang on the other side.

"Damn it, this is a battle of wits!" I roared, wielding my shovel in pursuit. Shirley Yang fired her pistol in rapid succession, five bullets hitting the mummy's head wrapped in layers of white cloth. The sphinx, in pain, leaped to the side and darted behind the stone bed, disappearing from sight.

I followed closely behind, shovel in hand. Under the light of Shirley Yang's wolf-eye flashlight, I was shocked to discover a hidden door in the floor behind the stone bed. It was from this door that the monster had silently jumped out.

After Shirley Yang finished loading her bullets, I shone my wolf-eye flashlight around and discovered another hidden stone door at the top. Shirley Yang said that she had fallen from there.

Seeing her looking at me with questioning eyes, I hardened my heart and said, "Only by chasing after them can we get what we want and have a chance to save Fatty's life."

I stood behind the stone platform and tentatively touched around before discovering that the mechanism was a button on the base on the side of the platform. This sphinx was truly amazing, able to skillfully manipulate man-made mechanisms. The more I thought about it, the more terrifying it became. It seemed that we were facing not just a monster, but more likely a cunning, sentient hybrid of human and beast, clearly created by the madness of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs.

I was on high alert and used my entrenching tool to activate the mechanism. The hidden door on the stone slab opened with a creak, revealing a stone staircase below.

Shining my wolf-eye flashlight down into the cave, I found nothing unusual. Holding an entrenching tool, I slowly jumped down the stone steps and headed towards the bottom of the cave, with Shirley Yang following closely behind.

Below was another dark room, which was empty except for a stone coffin in the center.

I stood in the room, fully alert, wary of the sphinx suddenly emerging from behind the coffin again. But upon closer inspection, I saw the sphinx crouching cunningly at the head of the coffin, showing no sign of intending to attack.

Shirley Yang suddenly looked down at the ground and said, "Don't go over there, there's a trap on the floor."

I looked down and sure enough, the floor was covered with different ancient Egyptian carvings: images of the sun god, scenes of human sacrifice, majestic portraits of pharaohs, and miniature depictions of the Sphinx and pyramids. One image after another filled the entire basement in a chaotic and disorganized manner.

Shirley Yang said there were mechanisms on the floor because the arrangement of these carved floorboards was extremely discordant, contrary to traditional human aesthetics, and created a strange atmosphere.

Damn, it seems this sphinx is trying to lure Shirley Yang and me into this underground chamber, so that if we're not careful, we'll fall into its trap and meet our demise.

Shirley Yang and I calmed ourselves and steadily retreated to the stone steps to discuss our next move. I looked at the floor but couldn't make out the Sphinx's hoofprints. I was at a loss. It couldn't have been a pattern we were following, I thought to myself.

I couldn't take any risks right now, so I drew my pistol and fired two shots at the Sphinx mummy's head. The creature jumped and hid behind the sarcophagus, and all the bullets hit the sarcophagus wall.

Shirley Yang took a folding entrenching tool out of her backpack and told me to be wary of the Sphinx. She carefully poked at the patterns on the floor with the entrenching tool, trying several patterns, but found nothing suspicious.

Could we have wronged this monster? In my haste, I pulled Shirley Yang back to the edge of the steps, telling her to be on guard. Before she could speak, I grabbed two entrenching tools and strode forward.

As I approached the center of the room, the sphinx suddenly leaped out to the head of the coffin, startling me. I was on high alert, but it didn't pounce. Instead, it mysteriously shook its body and raised its paw to slap the bottom of the coffin.

Damn it, this is bad! I quickly fell backward, rolling all the way back to the stone steps. Just as I fell, I suddenly saw the floorboards sink and slide away, and a barrage of arrows flew out like locusts, riddling the ceiling like a honeycomb. Each long arrow was half-buried, demonstrating its immense power. Wherever it hit, black marks like soot and fire appeared on the stone slabs—they were poisoned arrows.

After the arrow volley, the stone slabs returned to their original state, without a trace.

A nameless rage surged within me, and I charged at the sphinx once more. But then I saw it about to press its foot down onto the coffin again, so I quickly dodged to the side and retreated to the stone steps.

I was so angry that I was about to start cursing when Shirley Yang grabbed me and dragged me up the stone steps toward the top of the cave.

Unable to break free, I had no choice but to follow her back to the top of the cave. Just then, the sphinx roared and pounced at us. I hurriedly turned around and swung my shovel to strike. The creature knocked me down onto the stone steps, grinning sinisterly, and raised its claws to dig at my chest.

Shirley Yang, suddenly finding courage from who-knows-where, lunged forward, grabbed the monster's white cloth mummy head, and twisted and turned it so that the beast's head was turned behind its back.

The sphinx roared, its sound shaking the stone chamber. It threw Shirley Yang off the stone steps, causing her to stumble and leap around the chamber, seemingly disoriented.

Seeing that the opportunity was rare, I leaped up and pounced on it with both shovels in my hands. The shovels struck the Sphinx, but it was completely unharmed, as if it were made of leather.

Shirley Yang grabbed my hand and tiptoed around to the head of the sarcophagus. She crouched down, spotted the button, and gave me a wink. I understood and couldn't resist kissing her. I straightened up and started yelling at the sphinx in the center of the room, which was raging in pain, like herding livestock.

The sphinx lunged at me furiously. Just as it reached my hiding place, Shirley Yang pressed a button, and a volley of arrows erupted, instantly turning the monster into a pincer-like mass from its belly. It spun around in the open space like a hedgehog before collapsing to the ground with a thud. Its body had turned a dark purple, oozing black liquid, clearly indicating severe poisoning. I stepped forward, wielding my shovel and hacking away, managing to decapitate the mummy pharaoh's head from the lion's body, sending it rolling a considerable distance.

Then suddenly a hornet flew out of my neck, screaming and swarming at me like a wasp. Its appearance was extremely ugly and repulsive, beyond description.

Shirley Yang quickly took out the Stone Jade Soul-Capturing Pearl and held it in the air. Suddenly, the Soul-Capturing Pearl emitted countless rays of light, which intertwined in the air like ropes of light to form a net. It then flung out a large net, which, like a frog sticking out its tongue, accurately bound the screaming ghosts that were fleeing through the air. In an instant, the light disappeared, and the pearl shrank back into itself, returning to its original state.

This is truly an eye-opener, showcasing the power of the Soul-Capturing Bead, a treasure of shamanism.

Seeing that the sphinx was dead, I moved to the sarcophagus and, without hesitation, used my entrenching tool to push open the lid. Inside lay a gaunt, golden-masked mummy, dressed in opulent clothing and wearing a king's crown. The golden mask bore the name of Pharaoh Khufu in Arabic script. A long, tubular strip ran along the bottom of the mask, covering the throat. Most strangely, a seven-colored gemstone the size of a pigeon's egg was inlaid between the eyebrows of the golden mask, occasionally emitting beams of light in seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and violet.

Looking down, next to Pharaoh Khufu is a golden scepter with the Sphinx on it, as well as a golden book of law, eighteen thick pages of which are inscribed with French text in tiny characters, clearly showing its great value.

Shirley Yang bent down and removed the pharaoh's golden mask, only to find a golden head placed on the mummy's body beneath it. The original head was nowhere to be seen. Shirley Yang and I both looked at the sphinx head that had rolled to the ground and thought, "Could this be it?"

"I'm going to get that code," Shirley Yang shook her head and said, "No need, just take what we need."

As she spoke, Shirley Yang pried off the seven-colored pigeon egg stone from between the eyebrows of the golden mask, put the golden mask back into the coffin, instructed me to close the coffin lid, and then we walked towards the top of the cave.

As you ascend, passing through the tomb of Pharaoh Khufu, the torture chamber, and the stone bed chamber, you finally return to the passageway at the bottom of the tower. As soon as you push open the stone door, a group of mummies rush out.

Shirley Yang calmly tossed the seven-colored pigeon-egg stone into the air and waved it. A myriad of seven-colored rays of light shot out, and the mummies that encountered it were instantly incinerated into piles of bones, scattered all over the ground.

We returned to the base of the tower along the passageway, climbed up the climbing rope to the hole halfway up the tower, leaned out of the hole, coiled the rope, blocked the hole with rubble, and climbed down the tower with grappling hooks as usual, returning to the tent not far away.

Everything remained the same. The fat man was still fast asleep in the tent, snoring loudly. The candles on the altar in front of the tent were nearly burned out, and the incense ash in the incense burner had cooled.

Seeing that no one was around, Shirley Yang and I took out the Soul-Capturing Pearl and the Seven-Colored Pigeon Egg Stone and placed them opposite each other on the table. Shirley Yang repeatedly burned incense and prayed, facing the North Star. Suddenly, the Soul-Capturing Pearl shone brightly and released two spirits from the runes. One of them was Fatty's soul. Guided by the seven-colored light, it walked into the tent in a daze, flew into Fatty's nasal cavity, and entered his body.

Secondly, the spirit of the Sphinx, which had just been subdued inside the Great Pyramid, trembled and cowered under the flickering candlelight, too afraid to move, when illuminated by the seven-colored holy light.

I dragged the fat man out of the tent, but then I saw two more remnant souls fly out from his body, quickly disappearing into the blade of the eight-foot-long saber inside the tent.

As the North Star shifted and the stars moved, the spirit of the Sphinx, illuminated by the candlelight, suddenly grew stronger. It circled twice in the air, reluctantly orbiting the seven-colored pigeon-egg-shaped stone, before, like a firefly, it went straight to the hidden cave halfway up the Great Pyramid and disappeared into the tower.

After I saw Shirley Yang put away the Soul-Capturing Pearl and the Seven-Colored Pigeon Egg, I couldn't help but ask in surprise, "What kind of stone is this?"

Shirley Yang smiled at me and said with great charm, "Sun God Stone."

Volume Two: The Four Nations Campaign, Chapter Sixty-Two: The Hijackers

According to the ancient Messi Codex preserved in Vatican City, and in the works of the indigenous civilizations of what is now the United Mexican States, there is a similar account: four generations of humans have appeared on Earth. The first generation of humans were giants, who perished from famine. The second generation of humans perished from a massive fire. The third generation of humans were ape-men, who perished from infighting. Later, a fourth generation of humans appeared, those in the "sun and water" stage, whose civilization was destroyed by a massive flood.

Modern science has discovered that before the Great Flood, a continent may have truly existed on Earth, a continent with an advanced civilization. This continent sank into the Atlantic Ocean during a global catastrophe. For nearly a century, archaeologists have found remnants of a prehistoric civilization at the bottom of the Atlantic, seemingly confirming this hypothesis. In popular tradition, this landmass is called "Atlantis," and the kingdom that nurtured this prehistoric civilization is called "Atlantis." In fact, the scientific community has long since named this mysteriously vanished continent, using the name proposed by Plato: Atlantis.

Atlantis, also translated as Atlantis, is said to have been founded by Poseidon, the sea god. Poseidon married a young woman from an isolated island who had lost both her parents, and they had five sets of twins. Poseidon then divided the island into ten districts, each ruled by one of his ten sons, with the eldest son as the supreme ruler. Because this eldest son was named Atlas, the kingdom was called "Atlantis." It is believed that the Garden of Eden mentioned in the Book of Genesis in the Bible refers to this kingdom. At that time, Egypt was one of its colonies.

The kingdom of Atlantis was very wealthy and powerful. In addition to the abundance of resources on the island itself, it also received a constant stream of tributes from Mediterranean countries such as Egypt and Syria.

In the prehistoric civilization of Atlantis, the most remarkable scientific achievement was its energy system, centered on the Omegastone. This was a gigantic, cylindrical substance with a hexagonal cross-section, capable of absorbing sunlight and converting it into energy. The Omegastone was placed in the central energy chamber of the Sun Palace in Poseidia (the capital of Atlantis), creating a "cosmic energy" unknown to humankind, concentrating and amplifying it, and projecting it across the world as an intense, blinding light. Simultaneously, through healing with Omegastone, the Atlanteans could regenerate and rejuvenate. However, around 16,000 BC, the Omegastone energy system exploded, shaking the Earth's foundations and causing a massive continent to sink into the depths of the sea, resulting in the disappearance of the Atlanteans.

Later, the Egyptian pharaoh obtained the core left behind after the explosion of the magnetic osmanthus stone, which he kept secret and called the Sun God Stone. This Sun God Stone was said to be able to release spiritual energy, absorb solar energy, and guide souls to heaven, making it a coveted treasure of the pharaohs of the Egyptian pyramids throughout history.

I took the seven-colored pigeon egg stone from Shirley Yang. Sure enough, beneath its round appearance, veins and patterns were faintly visible, and the interior displayed a regular hexagonal shape. It seems that the functions of the Sun God Stone and the Soul-Capturing Pearl are exactly opposite, one positive and one negative, one yang and one yin, complementing each other and acting in harmony.

We slept fully clothed in a tent near the Great Pyramid for the night, but I was woken up before dawn. I looked up and saw that it was Fatty who had woken me up.

The fat man chuckled as he saw me staring at him intently and said, "You old bastard, what's wrong with you? Are you still sleepwalking? Why are you lecherously staring at your fat grandpa?"

Hearing his utterly nonsensical ramblings, I knew the brat was fully recovered. Taking advantage of his momentary lapse in attention, I kicked him in the backside, sending him sprawling out of the tent. I was secretly pleased, but cursed under my breath, "You fat bastard, I was just having a good dream, and you woke me up!"

I immediately peeked into the tent at the back and gave Shirley Yang, who had just woken up, a quick kiss on the cheek, and exclaimed happily, "Fatty's all better!"

Upon hearing this, Shirley Yang rolled over and sat up excitedly, saying, "Really! That's great!" But before she could finish, she realized I had taken advantage of her. She wiped the drool from her face, her cheeks flushing red, and shyly whispered, "You—"

Before I could finish speaking, I was suddenly dragged back out of the tent. I heard Fatty laughing loudly in my ear, "You old bastard, what are you doing—"

I looked back and saw that Fatty had dragged my legs down, knocking our tent over as well. But Fatty just stood there awkwardly, not saying a word. I crawled out of the tent and saw a large group of Arab residents glaring at us angrily, as if we were fooling around and ruining the solemn atmosphere of the Great Pyramid.

Most of these people were holding offerings, so they had indeed come to worship. In the distance, there was another large group of people, devoutly worshipping the Great Pyramid.

Shirley Yang also came out of the tent. Seeing the situation, she hurriedly apologized to the group of people and pulled me and Fatty away. Only then did the group of Arabs disperse.

We hurriedly packed our luggage, got into the SUV, and drove away from the Great Pyramids. On the way back, Fatty kept asking Shirley Yang and me how we ended up in the Egyptian pyramids instead of in a small town in northern Mongolia, after we'd just come from Genghis Khan's mausoleum.