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"Who dares?" He Yunkai roared.

Almost all the men were enraged by that shout of "Who dares?"

"Me!" Zhao Gang, Wang Fangyuan, Lin Zhipu, and even Guo Yonghua shouted back at He Yunkai.

“Don’t go too far, He Yunkai,” Zhu Zili gripped the bone in his hand tightly. “Otherwise, no one here would want to have someone around who could steal their food at any moment.”

The Secrets of Bones (3)

He Yunkai looked at the several figures standing behind Zhu Zili, gave a heavy "humph," released Zhu Zili's backpack, and turned to walk away.

Liang Yingwu and I exchanged a worried glance. I looked at the white bone in Zhu Zili's hand. What happened here a hundred years ago—was it just like this at the beginning…? The highest education, the most enlightened society—cannot erase the ugliness in people's bones. Perhaps it can't be called ugliness, just the survival instinct of animals.

Zhu Zili threw away the bones and solemnly slung his backpack over his shoulder, a backpack he would likely never take off again. In the distance, I saw Zhu Zili examining his hands. He had been gripping the bones so tightly, and his hands were now covered in phosphorescent light, emitting a faint green glow. But why was he looking at that tiny bit of phosphorescence on his hands, even bringing his left palm close to his eyes?

Just as I was wondering why Zhu Zili could still maintain such a strong sense of curiosity in his current situation, Zhu Zili suddenly let out a cry of surprise, bent down and searched for a while, and picked up the white bone he had just thrown away.

My heart skipped a beat. Could it be that, like Liang Yingwu, he had also discovered clues to the cannibalistic tragedy of that year?

"There are words, words on the bones!" Zhu Zili shouted, startling everyone, who quickly gathered around him.

Dozens of characters were carved on that thick leg bone, each character about half the size of a little fingernail. If Zhu Zili hadn't subconsciously glanced at it because his hand was glowing and discovered the traces of the characters imprinted on his palm, we probably would never have known the secret carved on the bone until we died.

"It's the 18th day, there are still 67 left. The crazy Bao San and Zhao Di have finally been eaten, but A Yong and Bao Yue are still together. Okay, if you can keep going like this, I'll let you out."

These are the words engraved on this leg bone.

This was such a crucial clue. Liang Yingwu and I quickly pieced together several basic lines of thought.

First of all, it is certain that a horrific tragedy occurred here more than a hundred years ago, a tragedy in which large-scale cannibalism took place. Although Liang Yingwu and I tried our best to conceal this, it is now impossible to hide it any longer.

The people involved in this tragedy most likely experienced the same situation as us; in order to survive, they chose to eat people.

Most importantly, there was a bystander in this tragedy: the person who carved those words on the bones. This person possessed the ability to lead people out, and it's highly likely that this person was the mastermind behind the tragedy, holding the secret of the tunnel.

In the events of more than a hundred years ago, there seem to be two other central figures, namely two people named A Yong and Bao Yue.

We can only deduce this much at the moment, as the information revealed by these words is still too limited. However, the "bystander" from back then may have carved more than just this one bone. The most likely scenario is that the bystander used the human bones as a diary, recording the progress of the entire event each day. And these human bones, naturally, are the remains of those who were eaten, such as "Bao San" and "Zhao Di".

The most urgent task now is to find other bones with writing on them among the skeletons in this cave, to fully uncover the events of that year, and perhaps the key to escaping the cave lies within them.

Everyone immediately sprang into action, first identifying bones from the pile of skeletons used for lighting that could provide sufficient phosphorescent illumination, and then beginning a thorough search of the entire bone cave.

I was holding a thigh bone, ice-cold, with some unidentified fragments clinging to it. The mountain of bones—tens of thousands to examine—would take forever. This examination required extremely meticulous observation, constantly turning the bones over and over with your hands. I was alright, but the girls would probably be in real trouble. But life and death were at stake, so I had to grit my teeth and go for it. Fei Qing, for example, was gagging and turning pale as she meticulously examined each bone.

Fortunately, we quickly found a way to speed things up—writing can only be carved on large bones, most commonly the thigh bone, skull, and hip bone; smaller bones like ribs can be skipped.

During the search, some questions kept flashing through my mind. For example, how did the "bystander" manage to observe? The situation back then must have been extremely chaotic. Even the strongest person couldn't guarantee their safety in the next moment. How could someone calmly carve so many words on bones without being discovered? What exactly is this skill that allows one to survive?

After a full night of searching, around 6 a.m., all the inscribed human bones were finally found from tens of thousands of bones: 73 skulls, 57 femurs, 32 hip bones, 11 shin bones, and arm bones. After another hour of sorting and organizing, the cause of the entire incident and the details of each day of the 62-day tragedy recorded on these bones became clear.

The perpetrator's ruthlessness, cruelty, perversion, and mysterious abilities led to a bloody massacre of the people imprisoned in the cave over 62 days. Former friends, brothers, even fathers and daughters, all engaged in acts of cannibalism to prolong their lives or killed each other with their own hands. The stark white bones before us seem to transport us back to those 62 days a century ago, plunging us into a nightmare-like daze as we read about it.

The person who carved these words was a woman named Xiao Xiuyun. She recounted everything in a semi-retrospective, semi-diary style. In the first few days of the incident, while describing the scene, she intermittently revealed her identity and her entanglement with A Yong. Combined with my imagination and Liang Yingwu's reasoning, the mysterious cannibalism incident that occurred in Shennongjia more than a hundred years ago slowly began to reveal its true nature.

The exact date remains uncertain. Unlike my personal journal, Xiao Xiuyun wouldn't need to solemnly recite the year, month, and day when recounting her story. In fact, in a remote place like Shennongjia, people's lives haven't changed much over thousands of years, and even now, that remains true. The era names and even political upheavals and dynastic changes in the Central Plains have had little impact here. Due to the mountainous terrain, the era names of the Central Plains might be unheard of here.

The Secrets of the Bones (4)

Xiao Xiuyun is a genius, and her genius lies in her inheritance of an ancient and mysterious power. This power is even less known than witchcraft, sorcery, and black magic. If I hadn't read the self-narration of the inheritor of this school here, I would never have imagined that illusion magic actually exists.

I can only speculate on the general nature of illusion magic from various legends and fragments of Xiao Xiuyun's recollections. It's a secret art that affects the mind, far more profound than Western hypnosis. Judging from Xiao Xiuyun's recollections, the training she underwent when she first began practicing at age four would astound even the world's top hypnotists. Later, by the age of twelve, Xiao Xiuyun had become a remarkably skilled illusionist; she could even wield some genuine "power." Similar to witchcraft and black magic, in addition to influencing the mind, illusionists possess unique methods for utilizing unknown forces in this world.

A-Yong's real name should be Bao Yong. He met Xiao Xiuyun when he was very young. At that time, there was a village called Baojia Village near Baojia Mountain. Before Bao Yong became the village's best hunter, he was the most unruly child. Unlike the other children, he often ran off alone to the mountains near the village. It was there that he met Xiao Xiuyun, who was practicing illusion magic under her master. Bao Yong was immediately captivated by this little girl. From Xiao Xiuyun, Bao Yong could see the most beautiful and incredible sights. Thus, watching Xiao Xiuyun practice in the mountains every day became a secret pact between the two children. The elders of Baojia Village were completely unaware of this, and Xiao Xiuyun's master didn't seem to care.

They grew up together for five or six years. When Xiao Xiuyun turned 12, she was recognized as having the ability to be an excellent illusionist, so she was about to begin her final training.

The bones don't reveal what this final stage of cultivation is, but Xiao Xiuyun can't continue cultivating in the deep mountains. She has to "go out." Perhaps, because illusion magic and human nature are inextricably linked, she must "enter the world" and interact with people in order to complete her final stage of cultivation.

In short, Xiao Xiuyun and Bao Yong had to separate. That year, Xiao Xiuyun was 12 years old, and Bao Yong was 13. The two made a pact in the most sacred place in the village, the place where the annual ancestral worship was held—the Ancestral Cave—that when Xiao Xiuyun returned, she would become Bao Yong's wife. And the Ancestral Cave is the place we are in now, the "Human Cave."

Eight years later, Xiao Xiuyun returned to Baojia Village, where Bao Yong told her that he would marry Bao Yue that autumn.

Xiao Xiuyun etched her feelings upon hearing the news onto the white bone: "I have endured all kinds of trials in the outside world. My master said that I have a firm heart, but when A Yong said 'I'm sorry' to me, I almost completely collapsed."

I can fully imagine Bao Yong's transformation during those eight years. As he grew older, the incredible scenes he witnessed from Xiao Xiuyun in his childhood, when recalled, transformed from curiosity into doubt, and from doubt into fear. Therefore, his feelings for Xiao Xiuyun gradually faded and changed. In fact, when Xiao Xiuyun returned to Baojia Village, the entire village was filled with hostility and rejection towards her.

The consequences of such stimulation on someone who has undergone years of extreme mental training are extremely dangerous. Xiao Xiuyun insisted that it was the pressure from the villagers that prevented Bao Yong from marrying her. She devised an absolutely perverse and cruel method: to use the lives of the entire village to test the sincerity of A Yong and A Yue's feelings. If their love was unwavering until death, then Xiao Xiuyun would wholeheartedly allow the two to live together; if not, then this unfaithful man had no reason to continue living. The remaining hundreds of people in the village were merely props in this experiment.

On August 21st, every year on this day, the entire village goes to the ancestral cave to worship. Children who can't walk and elderly people who can't walk are carried there by the younger ones; no one is exempt, as a sign of piety towards their ancestors and the mountain god who protects the entire clan. That year, after all 489 villagers entered the cave, not one of them ever came out again.

Xiao Xiuying laid out a "Dragon-Trapping Formation" throughout the ancestral cave. This secret technique, aided by tools and a suitable environment, can create immense power that an illusionist alone cannot achieve. Once activated, the formation not only has an absolute influence on a person's mind but also requires minimal effort from the illusionist, maintaining its basic operation on its own. If manipulated by a master illusionist, even escape would be extremely difficult, let alone for an ordinary person. The three long passageways within the ancestral cave were the perfect locations to set up the "Dragon-Trapping Formation."

Along with the others from Baojia Village, Xiao Xiuying entered the ancestral cave. Of course, no one could detect this; for an illusionist like Xiao Xiuying, making others ignore her was quite easy. She wanted to witness firsthand the scene of people killing each other because of hunger. Most importantly, she wanted to see if, in the final moments, to fill his stomach, Bao Yong would personally kill Bao Yue, who was about to become his bride. She wanted to test this relationship with life and death.

As Xiao Xiuying had foreseen, this most brutal tragedy unfolded little by little. The offerings brought into the cave were quickly consumed. On the sixth day, two children who had starved to death were eaten, and a somber atmosphere descended upon the entire cave. On the seventh day, the first large-scale massacre occurred, killing 280 people that day, with only a small fraction surviving. From that day on, the killings were no longer solely for sustenance; more often, they were for self-preservation, to eliminate the enemy first. Many dared not even sleep, fearing that the moment they closed their eyes, their throats would be slit.

Xiao Xiuyun hid to the side, coldly watching this bloody hell. Her narration was terrifyingly calm, like a robot completely devoid of emotion. The splattering blood and the gleaming white teeth of those who ate raw human flesh were as normal to her as three meals a day.

Bao Yong and Bao Yue survived to the very end, not only because Bao Yong was the bravest hunter in the village, but also because Xiao Xiuyun's illusionary magic allowed them to survive the fierce carnage. Everything was prepared for them; how could Xiao Xiuyun let them die first?

The Secrets of the Bones (5)

We examined the bones one by one, and the number of survivors dwindled with each passing day. By the 40th day, even Xiao Xiuyun mentioned that the cave smelled unpleasant, and the rotting corpses were piling up, more than we could possibly eat. Sometimes, those killed earlier would rot before we could consume them, forcing the survivors to kill again. And once the killing began, in the madness of it all, there was no time to calculate just enough to eat, and when the fighting ended, more corpses would inevitably be left to rot.

The stench of decay could still be faintly smelled even now, and the inscriptions on the bones, which initially had a barely perceptible odor, grew increasingly intense under the influence of psychological factors, making even me nauseous. More than half of the people present vomited on the spot, though most of it was dry heaving. Fortunately, it wasn't the final moment yet; otherwise, in a life-or-death situation, to avoid killing, they might have had to eat their own vomit. This isn't just me being disgusted; people in the desert who run out of water even drink their own urine to maintain hydration, and vomit, if ingested, still contains many nutrients that the body can absorb.

We flipped through the pages faster and faster, all of us sharing the same thought: we wanted to know what happened to Bao Yong and Bao Yue in the end.

In the diary entry for the 48th day, I read the following: "Today, I convinced them that if they could survive in the cave for eighty-one days, they could get out."

Xiao Xiuyun must have used illusion magic to convey this message to the survivors. Now, I have no doubt that Xiao Xiuyun possesses the ability to impersonate ghosts and spirits. What truly astonishes me is her remarkably precise grasp of negative human emotions, undoubtedly honed through years of worldly cultivation. This message, once transmitted, will undoubtedly pose an even more severe test of humanity for those who have previously supported each other through survival.

If there's no hope of survival, so be it; killing a loved one doesn't make much difference in living a few more days. With this mindset, most people would probably be prepared to "starve to death together rather than harm their loved ones." But what if there were a glimmer of hope?

What will happen?

What will happen?

What will happen...?

"It's the 62nd day. A-Yue was strangled to death by A-Yong while she was sleeping. They really weren't truly in love. The expression on A-Yue's face now is truly... laughable. I should go. Goodbye, A-Yong." These words were carved on the skullcap, undoubtedly the head of Bao Yong's lover, Bao Yue, from over a hundred years ago. Compared to previous inscriptions, these were shallower because Xiao Xiuyun had only recently carved them onto the skull, so she carved directly into the scalp.

Now, the skull's eyes are empty and glow with phosphorescent light, but back then, in the moment before she died, she must have been filled with disbelief and resentment. She could never have imagined that her fiancé would strangle her with his own hands, and that he would eat her flesh and drink her blood in order to survive until the hundredth day.

The record from a hundred years ago ends here. Xiao Xiuyun left the ancestral cave, leaving her beloved Bao Yong behind in this dragon-trapping formation. Although she was no longer in charge, judging from her last words, Bao Yong still did not have the ability to leave alive.

Reading the entire diary took about two or three hours. At first, Liang Yingwu read it aloud, but his voice grew softer and softer, each word requiring immense effort. The contents of these bones were far beyond our capacity to bear. So, eventually, people had to read it themselves, and many girls didn't even dare to look, cowering to the side. After all the bones had been examined, the cave was silent; no one could quickly recover from the shock of reading them.

A resentment that has been passed down for a century (1)

Before I could fully shake off the story from a hundred years ago, two sharp screams startled everyone.

“It’s Lu Yun’s voice,” Guo Yonghua said.

“And Yuan Qiuhong,” Liu Wenying said.

The sound was coming from the direction of the passageway. When we arrived at the entrance of the passageway, Liang Yingwu turned on the backup flashlight and shone it inside, but we couldn't see a single person.

Lu Yun and Yuan Qiuhong simply disappeared.

While reading the Diary of Bones, Lu Yun and Yuan Qiuhong were among the first to lose interest and quickly retreated to the side. The others were completely absorbed in the diary and didn't notice anyone else. Unexpectedly, these two were silently abducted into the passageway by something, without any warning except for their two screams.

Could it be that, because we discovered the secrets on the bones, the thing hidden in the passageway couldn't wait to start its operation?

I gritted my teeth and was about to run after him when Liang Yingwu grabbed me:

"Don't be impulsive, there's too much to handle. Let's sort things out first, then discuss a solution."

I calmed down immediately and stopped insisting on rushing in to save the two people. I understood that this situation wasn't like a Hollywood blockbuster or a thriller where the heroine is in trouble and the hero single-handedly rescues her at the last moment. In this situation, if I had recklessly rushed back into the tunnel, even with superhuman abilities, I'd likely be in serious trouble, let alone able to save anyone. Things were just starting to look promising; the tragedy from a century ago provided a good example of our predicament today. In fact, the "thing" in the tunnel was in such a hurry to act precisely because of this. So, it was better for everyone to think things through together before trying to find a way to save them. To be honest, if Lu Yun and Yuan Qiuhong were kidnapped into the tunnel, they would be in immediate danger, and even if I rushed in, I wouldn't be able to save them.

After this major change, Liang Yingwu arranged for everyone to form a circle within their social circle, with each person close together so they could look out for and help each other.

I noticed Guo Yonghua glancing towards the passageway every now and then, knowing he was worried about Lu Yun. I had already discovered his secret crush on Lu Yun, and now I couldn't think of anything to comfort him, so I gently patted his shoulder. At that moment, a thought flashed through my mind: Guo Yonghua liked Lu Yun, but not to the point of forgetting life and death. It was I, not him, who had reacted first to rush into the cave. Thinking of this, I seemed to see Bao Yue's two empty eye sockets again.

I shook my head slightly, stopping thinking about these things and focusing my attention on the connection between the bloody incident a hundred years ago and the present.

After exchanging opinions with Liang Yingwu, some of the most basic inferences became clear.

Our current predicament is almost a replica of the massacre at the ancestral cave in Baojia Village a hundred years ago. It is now certain that we are trapped in the Dragon-Trapping Formation.

If, when Xiao Xiuyun left, she didn't remove the restrictions of the Dragon-Trapping Formation in order to continue trapping Bao Yong, and if this formation, once set up, had no time limit and would continue to function indefinitely, then we would be incredibly unlucky to have walked into the Dragon-Trapping Formation out of our curiosity and never be able to get out. However, after careful consideration, we unanimously believe that this is not the case.

If we intruded unintentionally, how do we explain the sudden change in the Dragon-Trapping Formation, making it increasingly longer to traverse the passageway until no one dared to step inside anymore? And were the disappearances of Yuan Qiuhong and Lu Yun also a spontaneous reaction of the Dragon-Trapping Formation? Judging from Xiao Xiuyun's diary, the Dragon-Trapping Formation clearly only operates on its most basic level; without a master presiding over it, it's impossible for it to exhibit any advanced changes. Surely, over the past hundred years, the Dragon-Trapping Formation hasn't developed sentience or the ability to think, or that the vengeful spirits of the four hundred-plus people who died back then have become evil spirits harming others?

And then, recalling what Ah Bao said back in Sanlitun Village—someone who clearly had no reason to frequent places like the Human Cave—it all fueled our interest in it, leading to our exploration and the subsequent incident where we got trapped. Looking back now, what that little boy named Ah Bao said seems incredibly suspicious.

“All of this proves that we weren’t unintentionally dragged into this; it’s a premeditated conspiracy. The person behind this conspiracy must possess abilities similar to Xiao Xiuyun’s back then, or perhaps even be a successor of that lineage of illusion techniques. For such a person, controlling a young child to say things against their will and then subtly luring us into their trap would be incredibly easy. Even a master hypnotist could do that.” Liang Yingwu’s words were met with everyone’s agreement. Because there was no other explanation.

"Moreover, this person should have always been around us, and most likely, he (or she) is right among us." Although many people had vaguely sensed this, my words still caused a stir. The students nervously sized each other up, carefully scrutinizing familiar classmates, teachers, or even me, the reporter, to see if I harbored any ill intentions. In the darkness, illuminated by the green phosphorescent light, everyone looked so eerie and unpredictable.

The cause of the Baojia Village massacre over a century ago was love, which turned into hatred, leading to the tragedy. So what about now? What is the cause now? Understanding this will be key to finding the culprit.

More than a hundred years ago, it was about love. If we follow this case exactly, then is today's event also caused by love?

If it's based on feelings, then among these people, who is more likely to be the one?

Even before Liang Yingwu and I could incite everyone to denounce each other, suspicions were already running high. People only truly trust themselves, and when they realized the culprit might be someone close to them, they instinctively started to dislike everyone, and all the rumors they had heard in the past suddenly came to light.

Nowadays, very few college students don't date on campus. Bian Xiao'ou and Fei Qing are exceptions, and everyone else has a boyfriend or girlfriend. Rumors about their relationships circulate widely, such as who they stole their boyfriends from, or how many handsome guys their girlfriends dumped in the past. Such information has become potential evidence for murder. The headache is that while almost everyone has these rumors, there haven't been any instances of love triangles, and all the parties involved happen to be in this investigation group.

A century-old grudge (2)

"Liu Wenying?" Liang Yingwu suddenly asked.

"Have any of you ever been pursued here?"

My heart skipped a beat. Liu Wenying seemed to like Liang Yingwu, and given her qualities, she probably had many suitors. Could it be...?