Poussière de cœur

Chapitre 7

The cold, damp rocks emitted a chilling luster. A wave of hunger washed over him again. To cast aside his desires, he opened his eyes and silently calculated in the darkness.

Endless darkness, several bouts of unconsciousness, the distance traveled, physiological functions at work, minus the illusions created by the darkness—it must have taken ten to ten days, right? Have the people on the surface begun searching for them? Will they be able to find them? Does anyone know they're underground? What exactly is this place? Wang Mu said there are twenty-four people underground. Is that true? Where are those people? Do they have water and food? Are they even human?

"Alright! Alright! I've mastered it!" Wang Muhuan shouted, leaping up. "Wang Jia! I've mastered the 'Secluded Valley Technique'!"

Wang Jia closed his eyes, looked at Wang Mu, and asked in surprise, "—What's wrong?"

Wang Mu took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. "N-nothing..." He tried to keep his voice calm. "You seem to have lost... a lot of weight."

“It would be strange if he wasn’t thin.” Wang Jia breathed a sigh of relief and smiled as he stretched out his hand, saying, “Amu, look at the ground first.” His smile suddenly froze as he looked with extreme difficulty at his outstretched hand—a thin hand that was almost nothing but bones. Then, he looked at his other hand—a hand that was almost entirely withered bones.

In that instant, Wang Jia seemed to understand something. He opened his eyes and stared into the darkness. "Am I... very thin?"

"

"Yes." Wang Mu smiled bitterly. He opened his eyes. —Once opened, he could see nothing. "Not only thin, but extremely thin."

He found it very difficult to answer.

Wang Jia stared blankly as he reached out and touched his face—he was indeed very thin, so thin that he was just skin and bones.

He struggled to his feet. His pants had fallen down. (His belt was no longer working.) He touched his body—a living skeleton.

"The Bridge of Helplessness!" Wang Jia laughed foolishly. "I've arrived at the Bridge of Helplessness!"

(His smile sent chills down Wang Mu's spine, but he remained calm and composed.)

But Wang Jia remained calm. He sneered, "The Bridge of Helplessness, what can it do to me? No! I will never yield!" Then, he closed his eyes, looked at Wang Mu, and resolutely said, "Whatever the reason, you must quickly bring me out of here!"

He chuckled and continued, "The way you release your energy will be difficult for you. You must simultaneously press your ten fingers on twenty acupoints on my body, and at the same time, transfer your energy to me. Understand?"

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [21]: Wang Mu also calmed down. He laughed and said, "In this way of achieving results, I would rather have nothing to do with you, and—you have to be a young and beautiful woman."

Wang Jia laughed too. "Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Beauty and death are separated by a fine line. Man is woman, woman is man. Now, even if I were the most beautiful woman in the world, so what? You can imagine me as the most beautiful idol in your heart. Come on—enough of the small talk, let's begin!"

*** *** ***

The "Seclusion Technique" is more difficult to master than the "Spiritual Eye Technique." It consists of four stages: fasting, abstinence from desire, abstinence from water, and abstinence from breath. However, since they had already reduced their food, desires, and water to the bare minimum, Wang Mu quickly enabled Wang Jia to reach the first three stages.

There is currently no need for a fourth stage—because there is always air inside the tomb.

Fresh air.

Wang Mu stopped.

Wang Jia breathed a sigh of relief. His lost strength and energy were gradually returning. He stretched out his right palm again. "Amu, look at the ground first. If the image is too fast, say whatever you can remember, don't hesitate!"

"—Many people are moving. —It doesn't look like the graves in our village. It looks like a big construction site. —Like a large meeting—It looks like some kind of ceremony is being held. —It looks like Xiao Ding, but he's moving too fast. I can't see clearly..." "Look carefully! —Be sure to look carefully!"

“…There were so many people…it happened once…too fast…” Wang Mu suddenly paused, “Wait a minute! When did your ‘Circle Light Technique’ turn into a movie? It’s too fast! It’s all blurry and I can’t see anything clearly.”

"Is there a Xiao Ding?"

"have."

"Are you sure?" Wang Jia asked seriously.

"Yes," Wang Mu answered firmly.

"That's good." Wang Jia breathed a sigh of relief, then swayed slightly before regaining his balance. He exhaled again and slowly leaned against the wall, looking extremely tired. After a while, he recovered. "Amu, — have you figured it out yet?"

"Think it through? — Think about what?" Wang Mu asked, puzzled.

Wang Jia hesitated for a moment, then prompted: "—Time!"

"Time?" Wang Mu was startled, then suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. "Time! The time is wrong!"

"Yes. The timing is wrong. On the surface, time flies by. Underground, however, time is but a fleeting moment."

"There are three explanations. 1. We are already dead. What lives is our soul, our essence. 2. We are in a time tunnel, in the inner space. 3. We are on a high-speed rotating object, moving faster than the speed of light. But no matter which one it is, there are only two possibilities. 1. Time slows down, but our physiological needs and functions remain unchanged. In that case, even if we eat and drink incessantly without going crazy, it will be useless. We will die quickly. 2. Our physiological functions match the current time, creating a longevity effect. On the ground, we can disappear for a month, a year, ten years, or a hundred years, but underground, we will only feel that a few days, months, or years have passed. Therefore, the first dilemma we face is no longer hunger, but time."

"Is he/she alive or already dead!"

Wang Jia finally finished speaking. But at that moment, a sudden green light appeared in the distance, then expanded and disappeared rapidly, like fireworks. But he had his eyes open. That is to say, he shouldn't have seen any light other than the parchment.

Wang Mu, however, kept his eyes closed. What did he see?

—Under the blue-green vision of the Spiritual Eye, the seemingly boundless blue-green light suddenly turned pitch black. Then, the darkness instantly spread throughout the entire lower sphere of color before dissipating. The luster returned to its normal blue-green hue.

Then, both of them suddenly thought of hell.

—Legend has it that in hell, the night is white and the day is black.

(When fireworks are set off in hell for the New Year, the light of the fireworks is black at first and then white.) —Aren't they living underground?

So, since it's in Hell, are there the Yellow Springs Road, the Netherworld Road, the Bridge of Helplessness, the Gate of Hell, and the Hall of Yama? Are there the Eighteen Levels, the Nine Netherworlds, the Weak Water, the Flaming Mountain, and the Enlightened Beast? Are there Yama, the Judge, and the Ox-Head and Horse-Face? Are there the Lord of Mount Tai and the Two Thousand Stones of the Underground? The Central Tomb Master, the Three Mounds and Five Tombs, the Tomb Left and Tomb Right, and the Tomb Attendants and Tomb Magistrates?

Wang Jia sighed, "Amu, have you ever heard the story of 'One should live as a hero and die as a ghost'?"

Wang Mu said, "I've heard of it. They were two brothers who wandered into a desperate situation for ten years, surviving on the flesh of a rare plant. After returning home, they discovered that illness had also followed them. To prevent the illness from spreading, they killed people, set fires, and did all sorts of things."

Wang Jia said, "Later, they were hunted down by their family."

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [22]: Wang Mu said: "Yes. In the final desperate situation, the elder brother left and the younger brother stayed. The hero eventually became a hero, and the ghost eventually became a ghost." He laughed. "If we also have a chance to escape, you go first. I'll go later. But don't break your promise and make the younger brother wait endlessly without the elder brother coming back to save him."

Wang Jia sighed. "That's just a story. Besides, it really is a strange place; those who leave never return. But if the story repeats itself, you should leave. I'll stay."

Wang Mu smiled. "How could an older brother not consider his younger brother? I believe an older brother will always find a way to go back and save his younger brother. After all, an older brother knows more. Let you go and I stay." (See my book "Dream of Time and Space, Love of the Universe") "You know how to do a favor," Wang Jia laughed. "If I stay, I can read palms, fortunes, body physiognomy, and auras for those Yama Kings and the King of Mount Tai, stirring up their conflicts. Wouldn't it be fun to sit back and watch them fight? What about you?"

"Me?" Wang Mu laughed loudly, "I can kill them all and declare myself king!" Suddenly, he slapped his forehead, "The map! [Illegible text]"

*** *** ***

The map was already out. On it, the red light flowing endlessly across the lines and patterns resembled rushing blood. Wang Mu stared intently at it, and Wang Jia leaned closer. The two held the map hand in hand, when Wang Jia suddenly paused. "Let go first." Wang Mu released his grip. "Put your hands back on." Wang Mu put his hands back on. "Let go again." Wang Jia commanded.

Wang Mu refused to obey orders anymore, "What are you doing? -- Trying to mess with me?"

Wang Jia slapped Wang Mu's hand away. Wang Mu immediately put his hand back on.

"Ha! So that's how it is!" Wang Jia exclaimed with delight. "I can only see those little white and red dots when both of us have the map!"

"What a piece of junk!" Wang Mu exclaimed in utter disappointment. "—What a damn old bastard!"

Wang Jia, however, was intrigued. "Hmm. Not bad, there really are small white and red dots. They gather and scatter. —Strange, how come two of them suddenly disappeared?!"

Volume 3, The Bridge of Helplessness, Chapter 2, "Eating Hearts with Smiles, Abandoning Emotions in Anger": I. Facing Evil - There is Only One Path to Take!

Take it back!

But how do you rob it? Where do you rob it? From whom do you rob it?

No one responded. Everyone seemed numb.

It was precisely because no one spoke that people heard the sound of digging again.

The eighteen men stood up together, holding their breath to listen. Du Liu silently flicked his wrist to reveal his knife, tilting his head to listen; Chen Xing pressed himself against the earthen wall, listening intently; A Ding released Tong Rong and slowly moved forward.

But then the sound of digging disappeared.

After waiting for a moment, Chen Xing seemed a little guilty. He gently tapped the earthen wall, took a few steps, and then tapped it a few more times, appearing very focused.

“They’ve left,” Adin said.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [23]: "Leave? -- No way?" Chen Xing continued to tap the earthen wall, as if trying to find the source of the sound. Another digging sound came, which lasted for a few seconds and then disappeared. "The location has been found." Chen Xing said calmly, moving to the other side to continue the search.

A cold laugh suddenly rang out.

*** *** ***

Wu Xiaohui sneered. She sneered, "If food and water weren't in one person's hands, we—wouldn't be like this!" Her mocking voice continued in the darkness: "In this world, there are so many people who don't know how to protect themselves! Everyone has a perfectly legitimate excuse. Everyone still has the righteous belief that 'the poorest are the most revolutionary'!"

"In daily life, they adhere to a ridiculous 'live for the moment' principle, never planning for the future! Yet, when faced with sudden changes, they know how to use force to bully the weak, robbing everything others have saved, and calling it 'robbing the rich to help the poor.' In reality, isn't that just the nature of robbers? And when faced with robbers, we are far too cowardly. We don't know how to resist, how to fight, only how to passively accept our fate! And then we reflect on why we were wrong! Naive! Shameless! Pathetic!"

The knocking stopped. Chen Xing calmly walked away from the wall.

“Miss Wu, are you talking about me?” He chuckled coldly and continued, “You have your set of theories; I have my set of principles! But everyone has the right to survive, it just depends on how you look at it. —If you resent me, resent that I forced you to give up your food and water, then there’s no need. I haven’t taken a single extra thing from any of it. In terms of contribution to this group, I am ten times, a hundred times greater than you! When it comes to the survival of the group, I’d rather play the role of the ‘devil’! If you have any objections to this, you can leave with those who share your views.”

You can absolutely find other ways to make a living!

Wu Xiaohui smiled. Her smile seemed gentle, and her voice was as soft as water, as if she were talking to her first love. "Deputy Captain Chen, I know your character too well. Would you act blindly without absolute certainty? No."

"You won't. (Huang Zilan testifies: Is that really so?) You already know that you've become the target of everyone's attacks, and that if any unrest occurs, you'll be the first to be dealt with. That's why you've acted in a seemingly selfless manner, making people think you have humanity." Her voice changed, becoming stern: "—But if you truly have humanity, why not only do you not help those who steal food and water, but you also hint at and beg for their shelter, hoping to join them?!"

"What a joke! Join them? Who are they that I'd join them? When did I ever say I wanted to join them? What proof do you have that I wanted to join them? Or do you even know who they are?" Chen Xing sneered repeatedly, his voice unusually cold: "Wu, Xiaohui! [This appears to be a fragment of a longer text, possibly a garbled message or a corrupted file. The last part is a series of seemingly unrelated phrases and sentences, likely from different sources. A direct translation isn't meaningful without further context.]

Wu Xiaohui said calmly, "Chen Xing, stop trying to manipulate things."

Chen Xing suddenly became stern. "People say that Chinese people are best at fighting amongst themselves. You've always been a smart man, so why did you ignore a serious fact when you were putting your own interests first? — If our group doesn't exist, you naturally won't exist either. The struggle to reclaim what we've lost hasn't even begun, and you've already demoralized everyone. Do you want us all to die of thirst and starvation?"

"Really?" Wu Xiaohui was even more dismissive. "But if a thief is stealing, do you think I would do something like telling the victim afterward? What would be the point then?"

Chen Xing angrily retorted, "What do you mean?!"

"What do you mean? Others may not know what you were doing. But don't forget, I studied telecommunications and telegraphs. The sound of you tapping on the wall was so rhythmic. Do you think I don't know what you're saying?" Wu Xiaohui sneered. "What?"

Should I translate this for everyone?

Chen Xing said lazily, "Really? It's a pity I've never learned your telegraph and telecommunications techniques. Could you teach me? Right now, I really hope those people will take me in, so I don't starve or die of thirst. I forgot—is everyone in the world as clever as you, knowing how to transmit telegraphs and telecommunications?"

The sound of digging started again.

"Stop talking!" Du Liu roared. "No one is allowed to bring up the past again. I've said it before—" "Go! Filial piety—!" A Ding interrupted. (Screaming/urgent shouting/loud shouting. Long shout.)

But it was too late.

Screams and gasps rang out simultaneously, followed by gasps of surprise.

People ran a few steps, bewildered, and then stopped.

—From a distance, seemingly beyond this world, came the faint sounds of fighting, screaming, grappling, and shouting.

"Who's missing?" Du Liu asked in a deep voice in the darkness.

*** *** ***

The word "fast" reached her ears, and Wei Yiyi suddenly felt her legs give way, and she fell to the ground. There was nothing beneath her feet; she only managed a half-scream before her mouth was gagged. Then, her body tilted to the side, but she was immediately pulled back by a large hand covering her mouth and nose, while another hand grabbed her hair. She was dragged a few steps.

There seemed to be a small hole. But then came a heavy punch. She lost consciousness.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [24]: The word "go" reached An Yingying's ears, and before she could even exclaim, her neck was grabbed. Then, she fell down and was pulled down by someone; she struggled, twisted and screamed, but to no avail, and she was still dragged backward.