Histoires de fantômes

Chapitre 242

"Puff, puff, puff," three shots rang out in quick succession. The puppeteer, like a firecracker lit during the Lunar New Year, tumbled and rolled three times in mid-air, but his arms remained outstretched, ultimately maintaining his balance as he continued to swoop down.

Kaku's marksmanship was undeniably accurate; the next seven bullets all struck the target's vital chest area. Despite being hit by so many bullets, the puppeteer remained vigorous and energetic, as if possessed by a demon.

"Immortal? Could it be that he has achieved immortality?" He Jishang's shock was palpable.

The knife in my hand suddenly rang out with a long "clang," and the blade extended an inch. The Desert Eagle had fallen into the puppeteer's hands, and even with a gun at hand, my marksmanship was only on par with Kaku's, and my pistol was no match for a sniper rifle.

Kaku's magazine was empty. In a one-on-one duel, the chances of a sniper rifle running out of ammo are extremely small; the fight is often over after the first three bullets are fired. A gunman without bullets is left helplessly at the mercy of his opponent. Kaku, still holding his gun, was stunned by the amazing puppeteer.

I gripped the hilt of my sword, not daring to think twice, and suddenly leaped forward, determined to intercept the puppeteer's fatal attack before he could severely injure Kaku. In a true life-or-death situation, the difference between victory and defeat is merely a tenth or even a hundredth of a second.

With my light-footed skills, I would only lag behind the puppeteer descending from mid-air. After all, in those few seconds of witnessing Kaku first unleashing a barrage of machine gun fire and then showcasing his sniper rifle skills, I thought he had the victory firmly in his grasp. But when the situation drastically changed, and Kaku went from hunter to hunted, my reaction was slightly delayed. In modern gunfights, being delayed is tantamount to losing control of the situation.

The hilt was cold and slippery, but when it pointed straight forward, the sharp tip sliced through the air, increasing my lightness skill more than tenfold. In an instant, I landed beside Kaku, lowered my shoulder, and knocked him aside. I only slashed out in mid-air, a common move from the Yandang Mountain Wild Goose Feather Single Saber, but unexpectedly, with a "whoosh," the puppeteer was cleanly and completely severed from head to crotch, falling into the bushes.

"The Blade of Overreach, the Blade of Overreach, the Blade of Overreach—" He Jishang shouted, his voice a mixture of joy and confusion, the last syllable turning into a sob of sadness, "That is the Blade of Overreach of 'King of Tomb Raiders' Yang Tian, it has finally returned to the world!"

The force of that strike was extremely strange; it actually propelled me across a spatial distance of several dozen meters, allowing me to swiftly kill the puppeteer and rescue Kaku. As I looked down at it, every star on the blade shimmered with an eerie silver light.

"Excellent sword, excellent swordsmanship! I knew I hadn't misjudged you—" Kaku exclaimed in admiration. He was wearing jungle camouflage, his black combat boots were covered in dust and grass clippings, and his face showed undisguised fatigue, clearly indicating that he had just completed a long march.

"Kaku, what are you doing here? Who sent you back?" I thought Gu Qingcheng was worried about Feiyue and me, so she sent someone to help us secretly. Among so many people in the camp, only she would have such thoughts.

Kaku shook his head: "No, no one sent me. I'm hunting someone down, the masked monster who appeared in that tunnel."

He walked into the bushes, kicked the puppeteer's body, quickly changed the magazine on his sniper rifle, and poked the barrel at the half-dead enemy's head, exclaiming in horror, "It's a dummy! No wonder it survived so many bullets!"

I sheathed my dagger and smiled faintly: "Yes, it's a dummy, but there's another person inside its belly, in the half of its body that fell further away." There wasn't a drop of blood on the blade. The feel of cutting wood versus cutting a human body is worlds apart.

A short, blond dwarf man struggled to his feet from the bushes, casually tossing aside the puppeteer's wooden body. Shaking his disproportionately large head, he glared at me fiercely: "You—how did you know I wasn't the puppeteer?"

I laughed. It was just my intuition. A big shot who made his name in the caravan would never ignore his appearance. When he jumped down from the building, his stiff lightness skill was already exposed, because his body flying in mid-air was tilted, with the right side obviously heavier than the left.

The Sixth Part: The Mystery of the Heavenly Ladder

— Chapter 4 — The Phone Call to Suren —

“The puppeteer isn’t from the Chenzhou Zombie Sect, so he won’t use their ‘Living Dead Lightness Skill.’ With this strange wooden body on your head, it must be getting harder and harder for you to hold on, right?” I didn’t want to make things difficult for him. Being someone else’s puppet is already the most painful thing, and the puppet he’s made is an extremely crude-looking puppet. It’s clear that the puppeteer doesn’t intend for him to go back alive.

"Hehe, we all underestimated you, but you must always remember that puppeteers never die. What dies are always the lifeless puppets in their hands, like me, or like that Number One who died on the main road."

He smiled broadly, as if it were a very pleasant thing to shrink inside a puppet's belly and pretend to be a puppeteer.

"Get out of here, disciple of the Gun God. Bullets don't kill nameless nobodies. Don't let me see you, you ugly dwarf, again—" Kaku sneered. He was a competent sharpshooter, but the strange things happening in the current environment were beyond the control of a mere gunslinger.

This statement made me feel uneasy, because people with physical disabilities are most sensitive to others mocking their shortcomings. It is a huge, shared wound in their hearts that cannot be touched.

The dwarf raised his broad chin, rolled his eyes, and stared intently at Kaku: "You have five seconds to apologize, or you will die just like me!" Every word was spat out from between his teeth, accompanied by hissing breaths, like an enraged monster.

"Apologize? Get lost, believe me or not, I'll rip a hole in your head with a bullet." Kaku's confidence had been restored. As long as he knew he was facing an Earthling without any strange magic, his heart was no longer filled with fear and doubt.

I took a step forward, standing in front of Kaku, alert and ready to deal with any sudden attack from the dwarf.

"You will die just like me within 24 hours. I told you, the puppeteer never dies. Under his blade, the world can be cut up at will, like a cake that will be served in the next second. Goodbye."

The dwarf took a big step back, then suddenly fell forward, his arms and legs outstretched.

Kaku laughed loudly, "What are you doing? Playing dead?" He held a sniper rifle in one hand, the muzzle pointed at the dwarf's shoulder. "Hey, get up, and go home to your master, lest you beg for mercy when you get bullied outside, hahahaha—"

His laughter didn't last long before the dwarf's neck silently split open, as if an invisible knife had instantly sliced through his throat.

"Huh?" Kaku leaped backward and crashed into the rock wall with a thud.

"Cut him into eight pieces?" He Jishang had just arrived and was standing next to me when suddenly cold sweat broke out on his forehead, the tip of his nose, and his cheeks.

In the world of magic, those four words represent an extremely poisonous death curse. When a sorcerer and a dying person work together to plant this death curse, the cursed person will also be cut into eight even pieces and neatly arranged together.

"Two, three, four... seven, eight," He Jishang counted in a low voice.

When the dwarf's left leg was broken, his body was divided into eight pieces of similar weight, with only a two-centimeter-wide crack between them. The blood that flowed out was quickly absorbed by the bushes beneath his body.

"Where is the killer? Where is he—" Kaku gripped his gun tightly, searching around blankly.

Charging into battle on a war-torn battlefield relies on courage and boldness, but once inside these treacherous mountains, the rules of the military no longer apply. Ultimately, a marksman like him is only suited to fighting alongside a large force and obeying orders.

“The puppeteer will never appear on stage. What people see is just the puppet in his hands.” He Jishang sighed sadly, then gave a deeper bitter laugh. “The puppeteer changed the position of the small building in the village in an instant. Everyone died. The hunched-over man smoking was probably just another puppet in his hands.”

The village opposite was eerie and deserted, like a desolate, uninhabited haunted house on the hillside.

“Mr. Feng, that masked person has been following your and Feiyue’s car. On the way here, she entered my sniper scope several times, but she was faster than a running rabbit, and I never had a chance to shoot. Now, I should go and continue my pursuit. I believe she is nearby.”

Kaku slung his rifle over his shoulder and then hugged the machine gun to his chest, his face full of inexplicable stubbornness.

I pressed down on his thin, bony shoulders and told him with utmost sincerity, "The opponent's martial arts and agility are beyond comprehension. You really didn't need to leave the camp to take this risk. If she is indeed the 'Dragon Witch' from the mountain folk's legend, we can only fight her by joining forces. Take my advice and come back to the camp with me tomorrow, okay?"

True martial arts masters are beyond the reach of firearms, as many examples in the history of warfare clearly demonstrate.

Kaku shook his head arrogantly: "Mr. Feng, you're not a gunman, you'll never understand what a world-renowned sniper is thinking. My master said that in the world of sniper scopes, the person who pulls the trigger is God, and life and death are all decided by God. That person has already passed through my scope seven times, and I hope that within ten times, she will lie dead in the wilderness."

He pushed my hand away, the "mature beyond his years" lines on his forehead intertwined bitterly, and said, word by word, "It is my shame to fail to kill her. It is acceptable not to bring honor to my sect, but I cannot bring further disgrace to the Gun God's sect."

“You can’t stop him. Sometimes, what a man has to do is far more important than preserving his life, like Brother Tian who left back then. Perhaps, the blood flowing in a man’s veins is always boiling, and he will not give up until he achieves his goal.”

When He Jishang mentioned the word "death," I realized it was a truly ominous sign and secretly shuddered.

Kaku's lone figure had disappeared into the jungle. He didn't say "goodbye" or look back, but the fact that he had increased his sniping attempts to ten times already proved that his confidence wasn't entirely sufficient. Snipers at their peak always believe they can kill with a single shot; some are even more extreme, loading only one bullet into the chamber and never firing a second shot at the same target.

"I just hope he can get back to camp alive." I was telling the truth; the camp needs a skilled fighter like him.

“Then, we should first pray that he can survive the next twenty-four hours and escape the curse of being ‘dismembered into eight pieces.’” He Jishang crossed her arms, and the mountain wind in the middle of the night made her white robe flutter; it was indeed a bit cold.

I took off my coat and draped it over her shoulders, then slowly walked down the hillside toward the main gate of the ancient village.

The main road in the middle of the village has been restored to its east-west direction, and the puppeteer's illusion has been dispelled.

"Feng, do you need the toad?" He Jishang asked seemingly casually as he stepped onto the stone steps.

The air was thick with the stench of death and blood. After a moment's thought, I carefully replied, "Based on all the information I've gathered, I have reason to believe that there are traces left by the great hero Yang Tian on the other side of the crevice. If possible, I hope you will join the expedition. The toad can only ward off poisonous snakes, but you and he may have some kind of telepathic connection, which would allow you to discover clues more quickly."

He Jishang is a master of the Five Poisons Sect, and he will definitely be useful when traversing the Stone Crevice Snake Formation. I am increasingly aware of the importance of having helpers. Ever since Sun Gui fell into those transparent liquids, the usually composed and steady Uncle Wei has been thrown into disarray, and his control over the team members is rapidly weakening, which is definitely not a good sign.

I need a more powerful expert to join me, and He Jishang is undoubtedly the best candidate because she is even more eager to see my elder brother than I am.

He Jishang sighed, "Are you so confident that you can explore to the end of the mountain? You should know that for hundreds of years, no one—"

I interrupted her: "At least, 'King of Tomb Raiders' Yang Tian has already done it. According to 'King of Catchers' Gui Luo, when he fell into the snake array, it was Yang Tian who saved him and took him to a deep pit full of crystals, where he lay on top of countless crystals. In the 21st century, everyone works hard because everyone understands that hard work doesn't guarantee success, but not working hard guarantees failure."

"Haha—" she laughed, her tone tinged with melancholy. "You know what? Calling him the 'King of Tomb Raiders' isn't accurate; he should be called a 'God among Men.' What he did is unparalleled. Back then, all the top masters in the martial arts world would retreat at the mere mention of Yang Tian's name. I remember when the most valuable tomb of the La King was discovered deep in Miao territory, it attracted the covetous eyes of eleven factions from around the world. But as soon as he entered Miao territory, within three days, all eleven factions were wiped out and retreated. In any situation, he was the center of attention. What I mean is, what Yang Tian can do, you, me, and even many others combined might not be able to do."

The heroic deeds of my elder brother were recounted by a beautiful woman, her words filled with tender admiration, and every sentence stirred my blood.

In this life, one should strive to be an invincible hero like Big Brother, becoming an object of admiration for millions. Like him, even if one day he is no longer in the martial world, his moving legend will live on forever.

“One day, I will be like him—” I straightened my back and suddenly felt that my older brother’s existence was like a guiding light in the dark night, always illuminating my way forward.

"It's late, I should go to sleep." He Jishang walked into the small building, the sounds of the door opening and the old bed shaking were incessant.

I was wide awake and had no desire to go into the small building. At this moment, the ancient village was filled with corpses besides the two of us. She was the eldest brother's woman, unlike any other girl I had ever met in my life—not Su Lun, not Fei Yue, not Guan Baoling, not Gu Qingcheng.

"What will happen tomorrow?" Because Earthlings cannot travel back in time, no one can predict tomorrow. I hope He Jishang can also join the expedition team, becoming my strong ally alongside the Azure Blood Night-Shining Toad, so that we can break through the snake formation in the shortest possible time and reach the core of the mystery.

A masked Longo witch, a square-eyed monster, a crystal pit, metal doors in an ancient palace... Tomorrow, all that awaits me are question marks.

I sat on the wooden steps in front of the building, took out my phone, and was about to dial Gu Qingcheng's number when I realized it was already two o'clock in the morning. She should have already gone to sleep. I couldn't help but chuckle: "Only idle people keep an eye on the time on their watches. When you're really busy, you don't even have time to look at your watch."

With a few taps on the keyboard, Suren's number appeared on the screen. Since her disappearance, this number had been dialed hundreds of times a day, but never connected. It was clear she was trapped in a place with highly blocked radio signals; otherwise, given the powerful capabilities of these Nokia satellite phones, even if she were stranded on a deserted island in the vast ocean, she would have made contact long ago.

Unwittingly, I pressed the dial button. The connection signal on the screen flashed only twice before quickly switching to "call connected" status. I stared at the screen, my heart pounding, until a girl's voice came through the receiver: "Hello, who is it? Who is it? Li Kang, Schiller, or—"

I jumped up suddenly, moved the phone to my ear, and in my excitement, the keypad slammed hard against my cheekbone with a dull thud, followed by a burning pain.

"Hello, who is this? This is Suren. If you are from the expedition team, whoever you are, immediately notify Mr. Feng and ask him to come and rescue me. I am underground." Suren's voice calmed down, his throat was slightly hoarse, but still pleasant to hear.

I took a deep breath, suppressing the trembling in my arms, and whispered, "Suren, it's me, Feng."

Suren cried out, her voice trembling, "Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?"

A liquid, indescribable as either cold or warm, quickly slid from my eyes: "I'm in the ancient village outside the tunnel. Are you in that strange cave? Or deep inside the mountain? The Heavenly Ladder? The Underground Palace? Don't be afraid, I'll come to rescue you soon."

Since we parted ways at Fengge Temple, we only spoke briefly before she boarded her plane. I never imagined that when we spoke again, we would be separated by death, with her fate uncertain.

"Brother Feng—" she cried out, then her throat tightened, and for a full ten seconds, none of us could utter another word.

I gripped the phone tightly, as if it were a lifeline to bring Suren back.

The receiver picked up the sound of Suren taking quick, deep breaths. She quickly composed herself, her voice regaining its composure: "Brother Feng, I'm in an ancient palace. It's enormous, over three thousand meters long and wide. Strangely, I can't find the exit. Beyond the palace walls are only insurmountable vertical cliffs; there's no way in or out. The sky here is gray. I think what I'm seeing might not be the sky, but rather a cave ceiling hundreds of meters high. Imagine I'm in a hollow deep within a mountain, like a naturally formed bubble chamber created when the mountain was formed. The only consolation is that I've found the legendary Epang Palace, at least bringing a small end to my southwestern frontier adventure."

My mind quickly sketched out the location of Suren. If there were no obvious passages on all sides or underground, the way in and out of that place must be from above, since Sun Gui fell in from the tunnel. I really hoped that there was some kind of pipe leading to or from the underground world where those stone pillars disappeared, and I would be the first to rush in and find Suren.

“At the deepest part of the palace, there is a peculiar metal door. Brother Feng, I have been trying to open it, even if it is not the gateway to the Epang Palace, it will at least bring some turning point.”

A faint hissing sound came from the receiver; the communication signal was weakening.

"Hmph," someone sneered, right on the left wing of the building. I quickly turned around, but found nothing.

"Who's laughing? A woman? Brother Feng, who is it?" Su Lun heard it too and asked urgently.

I bent my knees and leaped up, hooking my left hand onto the eaves, and flipped onto the roof. The roof was empty, with only the clear moonlight shining on the ground.

"Nobody's here, or maybe you misheard?" I shouted into the phone. If anyone was watching nearby, they would understand the warning in my voice. This call was invaluable to me; anyone who showed up to interrupt would suffer a terrible fate.

"No, Brother Feng, I've heard the same cold laugh more than three times here. Quickly, investigate who's laughing; that might be the most valuable clue to getting in here. Also, there are four strange holes on this door, about the size of a muscular adult man's arm in diameter. I can't find any trace of a lock on the door; the mechanism to open it is probably in these four holes—"

"Don't touch that door. I've warned you many times. Otherwise, you'll only be sending yourself to your death sooner than expected." It was indeed a woman's voice, right behind me, but when I turned around quickly, I still couldn't see her.

"Longge Witch, is that you? Please show yourself and save my friend!" I shouted as I ran towards the northwest corner of the rooftop, the sound first coming from that direction.

The one speaking must be the masked person. Suddenly, I saw hope in rescuing Suren. The fact that she could warn Suren meant she had been inside, and more than once. With her help, we could find Suren.

"Brother Feng, it's that woman, find her..." The communication signal continued to weaken, until finally, only a faint hissing sound remained.

I shouted Suren's name into the phone, then suddenly my knees buckled, and I collapsed onto the rooftop, bursting into tears of joy once more. No matter what, I heard Suren's voice again; she was alive. As long as there was a glimmer of hope, I would not give up.

I repeatedly redialed Su Lun's number and heard the familiar dead zone feedback sound again. The call that I had accidentally answered was like a sudden life-saving rain for a traveler on the verge of dying of thirst in the desert, rekindling my hope to survive.

"You'd better stop entangled in the mysterious world within the tunnel. Some things are meant to remain forever dormant in unfamiliar realms. Blindly opening doors that aren't yours won't always bring alluring gold and jewels, but rather countless disasters. Feng, you're a wise man. If you insist on breaking through those insurmountable obstacles, you'll regret it one day—"

It was the Witch of Long's voice again, coming from the bushes about thirty paces away. In an instant, I thought of Kaku and prayed that he wouldn't make a move at this moment and cut off all the clues.

"I only want to find Suren. If you can help me, I am willing to pay any price, including my life and my head." Now, as long as Suren can come back, I will not hesitate to give up everything in my life to exchange for him.

"You two are quite affectionate, aren't you? But those are two completely different worlds. Entering is easy, but getting out won't be so easy!" The witch Longge's voice was full of regret, yet also carried a hint of sarcasm.

The words spoken by lovers often carry a touch of foolish fervor and passion. Only those who truly value their partner above all else would utter such words without hesitation. At this moment, I am merely an ordinary man and woman caught in the throes of love, not the "invincible desert warrior" so lauded and touted by the Egyptians.

"And you? Aren't you able to get in and out of there? Otherwise, how could Suren hear your voice? Help me, get her out—" I knew it would be difficult to get to the bottom of this strange question; no one and no time had time to slowly explain the cause and effect, the ins and outs of the matter. There was no better way now; the Longe witch was the only lifeline.

“I am me, I am completely different from you. In short, she shouldn’t have tried to open that door. Earthlings’ curiosity is a deadly guillotine, forever hanging over their heads…”