19-й уровень ада

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The agonizing cries of Feixue gradually faded away, but a mist slowly rose from the water. The mist gradually gathered, transforming into the shape of a young boy with slightly curly short hair. A white shirt was oversized on his thin body, and his icy blue eyes looked at Feng Qi with a smile.

Feng Qi watched this strange change, and only when the unfamiliar yet familiar boy smiled and tugged at his sleeve did he realize that this was Fei Xue, his only companion.

Do I...know you?

Feixue shook her head slightly and then nodded: "I'm leaving. If I could, I would really like to stay by your side as Feixue forever. Those days were very happy. I had lost faith in people, but Feng Qi, you are different."

"Flying Snow..."

"No matter what my life was like before I met you, it doesn't matter anymore. Thankfully, although I was trapped in this cat's body, I met you. You rescued me from my stray days, and you were there for me through the most difficult times. Thank you so much. My greatest hope is that you won't be too sad after I leave. Actually, there's no hurdle in this world that can't be overcome. I was too stubborn before. If I had understood things sooner, I wouldn't have encountered so many things." The boy's image faded more and more with the passage of time.

"Yu Ye!" Feng Qi suddenly grabbed Yu Ye's arm: "Save him! Aren't you a priestess?"

Yu Ye pushed Feng Qi's hand away, frowned and said, "You're hurting me!" She was about to turn her head to continue speaking, but fell silent because of the fear and despair in Feng Qi's eyes.

"Save him!" Feng Qi roared. "Isn't your witchcraft supposed to be superb? Aren't you very capable?"

Yu Ye snorted twice: "I am a witch, that's true. I am skilled in witchcraft, that's true. I am indeed very capable. But look, his host body is about to die, and his soul is very weak because it has been imprisoned for too long. If there had been more time, I might have been able to help, but it happened so suddenly, and there was so little time. Even a god couldn't help!"

"Feng Qi... what's wrong... don't cry..." Fei Xue gently called to Feng Qi, touching Feng Qi's cheek, and Feng Qi felt a cool mist.

Hot tears mixed with a misty touch filled Feng Qi with helplessness and despair.

"Don't leave me, you're all I have left..."

"Alright! Let me think if there's any way!" Yu Ye roughly threw Feng Qi aside, looked around, and suddenly her gaze locked onto the little black cat hiding in the corner, trembling.

The little black cat instinctively bristled all its fur, but the next moment it was caught in Yu Ye's hand.

"It's all about sacrificing you." Yu Ye sighed and said to Xiao Hei. Then she turned to Fei Xue and Feng Qi and said, "Do you mind using the cat's body? This time it's this one!" With that, she lifted up the trembling Xiao Hei. Xiao Hei, Fei Xue, and Feng Qi looked at each other in silence. Finally, Fei Xue laughed first: "There's nothing to mind."

Feng Qi was touched by Fei Xue's smile, and he smiled apologetically at Yu Ye, "Thank you."

"Sigh, I'm just destined to be a workaholic, get out of here!"

(The End)

sequence

(sequence)

A cold winter night.

Every gust of wind felt like it was tearing through the skin, causing excruciating pain. This was a winter unlike any seen in ten years; the river had dried up, its once wide expanse reduced by more than half. Even the city was experiencing snowfall.

Yu Ye stood by the river, wrapped herself up tightly, wishing she could wear all her clothes. She used a shawl to cover her head, leaving only her big eyes darting around restlessly in the cold wind.

"Shameless, utterly shameless! Kill him! Grind him to dust and scatter his bones—that won't be enough to vent our anger!" Yu Ye cursed as she breathed on her hands. After a long wait, a middle-aged man finally ran across the street.

When Yu Ye saw the man arrive, she didn't hold back and kicked him, saying, "Do you know how long I've been waiting for you here?"

The man didn't say anything, just smiled, and then pulled Yu Ye inside his coat to warm her up.

Yu Ye rolled her eyes and scoffed, but still obediently snuggled into the man's arms. After a long silence, she finally said, "Yi Ting, I feel like something's not right."

Chapter One: Nightmare

(one)

Zhengning Town.

Feng Qi had visited many times. This picturesque town boasts the largest nature reserve in the province, with continuous mountain ranges and crystal-clear streams flowing gently or rapidly through them. Every time he came, he felt refreshed and relaxed. Breathing in the unpolluted air of nature, even his mind became more active.

This time, he was there to report on a government meeting. Feng Qi was used to this; nowadays, many government officials like to hold less urgent meetings in scenic locations.

The conference was held over three days. The first day was a plenary session, attended by all participating districts and counties. As soon as the host finished announcing the conference's theme and agenda, Feng Qi, pretending to have something to do on the phone, left the room. With the conference materials he had obtained from the organizers beforehand in his bag, Feng Qi strolled leisurely through the resort. He had become quite experienced at attending these routine meetings; he treated it like a vacation.

The resort is located a few dozen meters below the entrance to the nature reserve. It was the height of summer, but walking along the shady cobblestone path, one could feel a sense of coolness.

He knew the resort like the back of his hand, and soon reached the entrance to the nature reserve. Looking up at the lush green mountains, he suppressed his unease. Ever since arriving in Zhengning Town, his heart had been racing; he'd been here before, but never like this.

After wandering around outside for a while, Feng Qi wandered back into the meeting room to continue listening to the speaker read those sleep-inducing reports.

In the morning, representatives from various districts and counties took turns speaking, while the rest of the audience dozed off. In the afternoon, the group members engaged in lively discussions. In the evening, tables were set up, and some played mahjong, while others played poker. Feng Qi, who disliked gambling, found it boring. His laptop's internet was also down in the remote mountain area, so he played Minesweeper for a while before collapsing into bed and falling asleep before 9 pm.

The mountain forest is rustling with the wind.

When Feng Qi opened his eyes, he looked out the window and saw a waning crescent moon hanging on a branch. Crickets were chirping happily in the grass outside, and the croaking of frogs could be faintly heard.

He was awakened by gentle calls.

He lifted the thin blanket and glanced at the bed next to him; it was perfectly smooth. He looked down at his watch; the hour and minute hands pointed to twelve. It was only midnight; the radio reporter in his room was probably engrossed in playing cards. The old air conditioner whirred and whirred. Feng Qi rubbed his slightly cool arms, found the remote control by his pillow, and pressed the temperature-up button, but the numbers on the green display didn't change. He pressed it a few more times, still no luck. He frowned and simply yanked the power cord out of the air conditioner. The machine stopped immediately, and the room fell silent.

Feng Qi pushed open the window, and a wave of heat rushed in.

It took Feng Qi a while to adjust. He leaned against the windowsill, looking out. The mountains, which were lush and green during the day, now appeared pitch black, like a magical black mist, both frightening and intriguing, making one want to explore further.

The insects' chirping and the frogs' croaking were still there, but the gentle female voice that had woken Feng Qi from his dream had disappeared.

Feng Qi recalled the nightmare he had just experienced.

A nightmare that wasn't scary.

He entered a verdant world the moment he regained consciousness. Towering, lush trees surrounded him, soft earth lay beneath his feet, and wild grasses as long as a man's arm lay at his sides. Moisture swirled in the forest, obscuring his vision, but he felt an overwhelming joy. So joyful was he that he ran through the woods, oblivious to everything, circling the towering trees, drinking from the sweet mountain streams, and playing with the birds.

But gradually, he sensed something was amiss. The arm that appeared before him was slender and fair, clearly belonging to a young girl. A bracelet adorned with emerald green gemstones on that arm shone brilliantly in the dappled sunlight. Then, he saw two or three figures appear in the distance.

That gentle yet alarmed voice rang out at that moment.

"Run...run...help me...help me..."

He ran for an unknown amount of time, until he was struggling to breathe and thought he was about to die from lack of oxygen, when he woke up.

In the brief moment of disorientation after waking from the dream, that gentle voice still echoed in my ears. She said, "Save me...save me..."

Feng Qi's first thought was of Mo Ran, but then he remembered that Mo Ran was long gone, and the hole in his heart slowly widened. Like a cigarette in his hand, it burned slowly, rising in wisps until it disappeared. The memories were vivid; he remembered the girl named Mo Ran, her resolute heart, her deep affection, her despair, every word she had spoken. But her image gradually blurred. Every night, when he was lonely and in pain, he tried to recall her appearance, but all he remembered were the poppy-like tattoos on her body and her pale lips. Time was both cruel and merciful.

The cigarette burned out, bringing him back to reality. Feng Qi tossed away the cigarette butt, looked up at the dark mountainside again, gave a self-deprecating laugh, and spoke with utmost tenderness: "Little sister, if I said I envied you, would you roll your eyes and scoff? You always see right through me, see through my vulgarity and ambition. Now I haven't even reached a third of my initial goal, yet I'm already weary. How could you bear to... leave me alone..."

The meeting lasted three days, and Feng Qi had the same dream for all three days. Each time, he was running through the mountains and forests, then two or three figures would appear, a sound would come, and he would wake up with a start.

When his roommate Xiao Yang found out, he joked, "Could it be that a vixen has taken a liking to you and is sending you a dream to express her love?"

Feng Qi scoffed, "You're just making this up! A fox spirit in this forest?!"

At that moment, three or four fellow players were playing a card game called "Hog Rider" in Feng Qi's room. "Heavenly Diamonds! I'll get you, you little punk!" A tall, thin man pulled out a Joker and slammed it down with a sly grin. "What kind of plot is this! It's outrageous!" Little Yang, a six of Diamonds, had won a pig, his face contorted like a bitter gourd, but he still managed to ramble on to Feng Qi: "Don't underestimate this forest. The old folks around here say that ten years ago, you could still hear the roars of wild beasts!"

"Beasts? Tigers or lions?" Feng Qi's face darkened. The mention of "beasts" immediately conjured images of tigers or lions lazily sunbathing in zoos. If those creatures that showed no reaction to humans were called beasts, he wouldn't be afraid at all. In Feng Qi's mind, no animal, however ferocious, could be more ferocious than humans. No other animal species could be as both fragile and powerful as humans; they were the strong ones on this planet, arbitrarily reshaping it according to their own will. But nature was different from any animal; its power could destroy everything. If humanity continued to recklessly destroy this planet, one day, this planet would retaliate a hundredfold, a thousandfold, ten thousandfold.

"A bear." Xiao Yang pretended to be serious. "A wild bear, it's injured several villagers!"

"Nobody would believe that! Keep making things up!"

The tall, thin man yelled, "Hey!" and shouted, "No bears, but there's a pig, a wild boar that's already been sold!" He then slammed a Queen of Spades onto the table. Little Yang glanced at the table and exploded, "What's wrong with you, kid? You're trying to mess with me like this!"

The tall, thin man put his index finger to his lips: "Shh! Comrade Yang, you're a journalist, an uncrowned king, the mouthpiece of the people and the government. How can you swear so easily?"

Xiao Yang spat, "With your character, you call yourself a public servant and a government employee? Why can't I swear?"

The two men got so caught up in their mutual slander that the onlookers just watched it like a monkey show and didn't try to stop them.

Suddenly, the floor shook. Feng Qi saw the water in the glass on the table churning and bubbling like waves, while the table holding the cards shook violently. The shaking lasted for ten seconds. When the ground quieted down, everyone looked at each other, and Xiao Yang spoke up first: "Damn it! Is that table shaking?"

The tall, thin man chimed in, "Nonsense! Didn't you see this glass is about to fall to the ground?" Everyone looked at the glass, half of which was hanging over the edge of the table. After a second or two of hesitation, everyone rushed out in a flurry.

Feng Qi nervously grabbed his laptop and phone from the bedside table, haphazardly unplugged them, and ran out in his slippers. Xiao Yang went even further, taking nothing but her wallet, and even turned back to pull Feng Qi's hand: "You still have the mind to grab that at a time like this!"

When they reached the resort's plaza, they found it filled with a crowd of people just as frightened as they were.

"earthquake?"

"Landslide?"

"A volcanic eruption?"

People were discussing the situation in a panic, and some women even started to sob. Although there were only a couple hundred people in the square, everyone was talking, and the scene was still quite chaotic.

Standing amidst the somewhat flustered crowd, Feng Qi looked up at the now quiet mountains. Was he seeing things? He couldn't help but see what appeared to be a winding path leading up the mountainside. He nudged Xiao Yang beside him and asked, "Xiao Yang, look, isn't that a path?"

Xiao Yang rolled his eyes at him: "Still looking around at a time like this." Even so, he followed Feng Qi's gaze. After a few glances, he also wondered, "That's strange, there wasn't a road like this yesterday."

The tall, thin man stood not far from them, and seeing them talking about something, he came over to join in: "What are you talking about?"

Xiao Yang pointed to the gray-white stripe that stood out against the green: "See for yourself."

The tall, thin man's eyes lit up. He rushed into the house, pulled out a backpack, took out a pair of binoculars from the backpack, and observed them for a long time, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Seeing his strange behavior, Feng Qi exchanged a glance with Xiao Yang, then pulled down the tall, thin man's binoculars and asked in unison, "What are you laughing at?"

The tall, thin man smiled mysteriously, lowered his voice, and said in a tone only Feng Qi and Xiao Yang could hear, "Want to go on an adventure?"

The two men were taken aback by the tall, thin man's question and asked in turn, "What kind of adventure?"

“I’ve been to this place several times, and there’s nothing much to explore besides the beautiful scenery,” Feng Qi said practically. “Did you hear something from the local villagers?”

The tall, thin man cleared his throat affectedly, about to speak, when the highest-ranking leader at the meeting shouted through a megaphone: "Comrades, don't panic. We've made contact with the outside world by phone. Due to a landslide in the Xushan Mountains northeast of Zhengning Town, the road connecting Zhengning Town to the outside world is blocked. We are currently working hard to reopen the road. Please continue working peacefully in the resort..."

Feng Qi glanced at the leader who was constantly boosting morale, then looked at the tall, thin man and told him to continue. The tall, thin man whispered, "Before I came here, I heard some local legends from the villagers. They say there's a treasure trove on Xu Mountain, guarded by a group of immortals. Normally, people are blinded by magic and can't see the path to the treasure trove. But whenever the weather changes, the path to the treasure trove will appear. Follow that path to the end, and countless treasures await you..."

Hearing this absurd treasure legend, Feng Qi and Xiao Yang were both somewhat dismissive. The tall, thin man, unable to bear being looked down upon, quickly said, "Rural legends are naturally not to be taken seriously, but there are some clues to follow. I reckon this so-called treasure vault is probably the tomb of some prince or nobleman from some dynasty, and those immortals might be the tomb guardians."

Xiao Yang's first reaction was: "Have you been reading too many tomb raiding novels?"

"Hey," the tall, thin man chuckled, "I don't want to go tomb raiding, I just want to take a look. Besides, being trapped here, not knowing when we can get out, can't I just treat it as a scenic excursion?"

Xiao Yang abruptly pulled open the tall, thin man's backpack, revealing a compass, a folding shovel, a military Swiss Army knife, canned food, a waterproof tent, and everything else imaginable. He glanced at the embarrassed tall, thin man and scoffed, "Quite a lot of stuff!" The tall, thin man scratched his head: "An amateur, just an amateur, trying to imitate others for fun. Brother, say something, are you coming or not?" The last sentence was directed at Feng Qi, who had remained silent.

Feng Qi looked up again, his gaze complex as he looked at Xu Shan. He was still bothered by the strange dream he had and the words he had heard, all of which had only occurred after he arrived in Zhengning. He nodded slightly, then looked at Xiao Yang along with the tall, thin man. Xiao Yang felt a chill run down his spine from their stares and said with a grin, "Since you're all going to make your fortune, I guess I'll have to follow you."

“I don’t think it’s a treasure trove or a tomb,” Feng Qi said to the other two as he slung his bag over his shoulder back into the house.

When Xiao Yang saw that Feng Qi had also brought his laptop, he laughed and said, "Why do you take this treasure with you everywhere you go? What else could it be but a treasure trove or a tomb?"

"I can't quite explain it, but that's how I feel."

The tall, thin man patted the two men on the shoulders: "We'll find out what it is in a bit, won't we? We have to sneak away, don't make a scene. If someone's missing, the boss will be investigating."

Chapter Two: Forks in the Road

The three climbed up a forest path that ran northeast of the resort.

The surrounding woods were dense, and perhaps because people often walked on it, the path was easy to walk on. The initial slope was not steep, and the three of them walked on it, which felt more like a picnic.

After talking, I learned that the tall, thin man was named Zhang Lihua and was 25 years old. As soon as Xiao Yang heard his age, she immediately exclaimed, "So you're only 25? I always thought you were 30. Ah, you can't judge a book by its cover."

Zhang Lihua retorted angrily, "I'll slap you to death, you jinx! This is what I call maturity."

The three walked and chatted, reaching the halfway point of the mountain in half a day. Feng Qi jumped onto a rock first and looked down. He saw that most of the others had returned indoors, and only three or five staff members were preparing for the evening barbecue in the resort square. Turning to the other side, it was clear that the blocked road was seven or eight kilometers away from the resort. The landslide wasn't particularly severe, but the mountain had completely blocked the already narrow road. Dozens of repair workers and equipment were working hard to make repairs.