Li Zhuiyuan was just about to shout a warning, but the words had barely reached his throat before one of the surveyors was suddenly snatched into the air.
Everyone gasped in horror, looking up as a dozen flashlight beams swept upward. In the panic, they caught sight of a massive, thick body rearing high into the air, thrashing violently.
The sight sent the entire scene into immediate collapse.
The reared body plunged downward in a violent rush. A pair of lantern-like eyes drew two arcs of red light across the night sky before hurtling straight toward the cave.
Everything happened far too quickly. Some surveyors outside stood frozen in terror; others fell, clawing at the ground with trembling hands, their knees too weak to rise. Mingled with the chaos were raw, instinctual screams and shouts.
Had it been any ordinary emergency, these seasoned surveyors, who spent their lives working outdoors with disciplined organization, would never have panicked like this. But when something like that emerged without warning from the midnight dark, being scared witless was only human nature.
By contrast, having lived through several bizarre encounters, Li Zhuiyuan and his three companions possessed far greater resilience. While the others were still paralyzed with bewilderment, Runsheng had already grabbed Li Zhuiyuan's arm, preparing to haul the boy onto his back, while Xue Liangliang and Tan Wenbin used each other for leverage to scramble to their feet.
From a purely rational perspective, they should have had a better chance than anyone else to dodge and relocate. Yet to their misfortune, the two giant lanterns completely ignored everyone else on the riverbank and barreled straight toward them.
This was its cave, and now it was coming home.
The four inside were instantly trapped. If they remained where they were, they would either be swallowed whole or crushed to death inside the cave.
Runsheng hoisted Li Zhuiyuan onto his back, spun around, and bolted deeper into the cave. Tan Wenbin and Xue Liangliang followed right on his heels. Reaching the chasm inside, the four leapt down together without a second thought.
The instant they jumped, Runsheng pulled Li Zhuiyuan around to his chest and wrapped his arms tight around him, using his own body as a cushion.
Perhaps because the creature moved in and out of here frequently, the rock walls of the tunnel had been ground smooth, practically polished. After plunging down, the four shot down the slope at breakneck speed, as if riding a giant slide.
Behind them, a grating screech echoed continuously, like truck tires skidding relentlessly over slick pavement, rattling the tunnel in violent tremors.
Shielded by Runsheng, Li Zhuiyuan was able to look back. The massive pair of red lanterns followed closely behind. Beneath them, he could faintly make out two flailing legs—the surveyor who had been snatched up at the very start.
Just then, a roar reached Li Zhuiyuan's ears, sounding like a tremendous rush of wind.
That meant the tunnel was ending. An empty drop lay below—they might very well plummet to their deaths!
Yet there was no alternative. Even if slowing down were possible, any attempt to brace themselves and check their descent right now would only result in being swallowed in a single gulp by the thing behind them.
Besides, if one had to choose an ending, falling to a quick death seemed far better than being eaten alive.
Soon, weightlessness took over. The four shot out of the tunnel and fell into a rapid freefall.
Even as they dropped, Li Zhuiyuan kept his eyes fixed upward on the tunnel opening they had just exited. The pair of red lanterns halted right at the threshold, refusing to follow them down.
The lanterns grew smaller and fainter in his vision until they blurred.
Splash! Splash! Splash!
One splash after another.
Li Zhuiyuan felt the stinging slap of water against his back, yet an overwhelming sense of relief washed over him. He knew their lives were saved for the moment; their group had two exceptionally strong swimmers.
Without thrashing, Li Zhuiyuan simply cooperated as Runsheng gripped him and swam toward the side. The subterranean current ran deep, but it wasn't wide, and before long, the two hauled themselves onto the bank.
"Xiaoyuan, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Brother Runsheng. What about you?"
"I'm tough as hide."
Li Zhuiyuan pulled out his flashlight, tapped it a few times, and flicked it back on.
Every member of the survey team had been issued one of these waterproof flashlights. Lashed securely to their gear, they were rarely lost except under extreme circumstances. The only flaw was their clunky, heavy-duty build, which often suffered from loose connections. The fix, however, was simple: find a stone and give it a good rap.
Click! Click! Click!
Li Zhuiyuan clicked the flashlight on and off.
Moments later, an answering flicker came from across the water.
The subterranean river roared violently, filling the cavern with deafening echoes that drowned out any attempt to shout across.
The boy gave two long clicks of light, signaling two people on his side. An identical signal answered almost immediately from the far bank. It seemed Xue Liangliang and Tan Wenbin had made landfall over there.
Li Zhuiyuan swept the beam back and forth, signaling there was no rush to rejoin just yet; each side should check their own bank to see which was more hospitable.
From the other side, Xue Liangliang swung his beam in return, acknowledging the message.
It wasn't an actual light code, just intuitive communication grounded in mutual understanding.
Next, Li Zhuiyuan used his flashlight to inspect his surroundings. To conserve power, Runsheng kept his flashlight off; the other bank did the same, leaving only a single beam on each side.
Their side was far from narrow—it was surprisingly spacious, with ten-odd meters of dry ground stretching between the rocky wall and the dark current.
The problem was that the rock wall was unnaturally smooth, resembling a vast mirror. Runsheng attempted to free-climb it, but was forced to give up; scaling it was completely out of the question.
Li Zhuiyuan wasn't disappointed. After all, that creature was somewhere up above; even if they managed to climb straight up, they might run right back into it.
Just then, a light signal flashed from the opposite bank: rapid, high-frequency pulses, followed by vertical waves.
"Brother Runsheng, Brother Liangliang found something over there. Let's head across."
"Alright."
Yet just as Li Zhuiyuan went to clip the flashlight back onto himself, the beam swept over a human silhouette.
At first, the boy thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. In an environment dominated by pitch blackness, he trusted his ears more than his sight.
When he shone the beam back, the figure was there again. Standing still, gripping the rock wall with a right hand, right leg extended forward, half a face peeking out—as if peering in secret.
Runsheng immediately took two steps forward, positioning himself ahead of the boy. Clearly, he had seen it too.
"Xiaoyuan, should we go take a look?"
Runsheng knew that when faced with danger, the boy always prioritized caution. But this time, Li Zhuiyuan replied:
"Brother Runsheng, let's head forward."
"Alright."
To be safe, Li Zhuiyuan had previously only checked the immediate area where they landed, leaving the path ahead unexplored. But judging by the figure's posture, there was clearly a recessed alcove to its left.
Either a natural outcropping protruded there, or a new opening lay concealed within.
He had mentally estimated the time they spent sliding down the chute and the duration of their free fall, arriving at a rough calculation of the vertical drop. At such depth, blindly following the underground river's flow would most likely lead not to daylight behind a waterfall, but deeper and deeper into the abyss.
The best way out was to find a path leading up.
The beam remained fixed on the peering figure. It didn't flinch or retreat; it stood completely motionless.
Was it... not human?
Once they drew close enough, the fine sheen caught in the beam revealed the texture of stone, and Li Zhuiyuan breathed a quiet sigh of relief. It wasn't human after all; it was a stone carving.
Still, its posture was unsettlingly eerie.
Li Zhuiyuan didn't know whether the sculpture had originally been painted; no trace of color remained now. Judging from the figure and physique, it appeared to be a woman.
She wasn't peering in secret... she was observing.
The two concepts seemed similar, but carried entirely different perspectives: the former made Li Zhuiyuan and Runsheng the focal subjects, while the latter centered on the sculpted figure herself.
Li Zhuiyuan aimed the flashlight toward the carving's rear left, revealing a cave entrance and, inside it, a flight of stone stairs.
Next, he swept the beam over the sculpture again, this time illuminating its back.
Now the feminine traits were unmistakable; he could even see the folds of a skirt. Thanks to admiring Ah Li's attire every day, Li Zhuiyuan could mentally reconstruct the style of the dress from the surviving lines.
The statue hadn't been carved elsewhere and set in place. It was carved directly from this corner rock face, with much of its front half seamlessly merged into the cliff.
Li Zhuiyuan backed up several paces in the direction they had come, Runsheng following suit until they once again stood facing the carving straight-on.
"Xiaoyuan, this is kind of creepy..."
What frightened Runsheng was never a physical object, but the atmosphere.
And it was precisely this atmosphere that Li Zhuiyuan wanted to examine again.
As he had approached step by step earlier, a sense of familiarity had stirred within him. Now that feeling was back, and he remembered where it came from.
A motif painted in the primary burial chambers of many ancient tombs, on the wall right above the occupant's coffin: Woman Opening the Door.
Scholars held various interpretations, but the one Li Lan subscribed to was that it symbolized the deceased being welcomed into another, underworld realm as the door opened for them.
Of course, this "underworld" didn't necessarily refer to King Yama's hell; its meaning varied across different periods, regions, and religious beliefs. Sometimes it meant being ushered into immortality; other times, it was merely an invitation to an otherworldly manor no less grand than the mortal realm, where one could revel in the same pleasures enjoyed in life.
In any case, it was never a place for the living.
Factoring in the stone stairs inside the cave behind it...
This wasn't a central burial chamber, nor was it a standard tomb passageway. Why was this statue here, and whom was she meant to welcome?
Li Zhuiyuan turned sideways, looking toward the surging underground river.
When rational thinking reached an impasse, one had to shift perspective.
If the subterranean river was equated to the Yellow Springs or an underworld river, then wasn't placing the stairs and the Woman Opening the Door carving here intended to invite the ghosts of the Yellow Springs inside as guests?
If this truly was a tomb, how hospitable must its occupant have been in life to enthusiastically welcome ghosts from every direction in death?
Li Zhuiyuan looked across the river. After the initial exchange, the light over there had stayed on, swaying gently now and then to signal they were alive.
The boy began signaling for them to cross over.
Both sides had found something, but where to gather depended on whose word carried weight in the group.
Soon an acknowledgment came back; they had entered the water.
Runsheng waited by the bank, and before long, he hauled the two dripping figures out of the current.
"Whew... whew..." Tan Wenbin knelt on the ground, gasping for breath.
Xue Liangliang merely spat out a few mouthfuls of water before walking over to Li Zhuiyuan. "Xiaoyuan, we found a boat on our side, but it's made of stone, carved directly into the bedrock by the water."
"Take a look at what we've got here, then."
Xue Liangliang raised his flashlight, first inspecting the carving, then peering at the stone stairs inside the cave.
Li Zhuiyuan explained the symbolism of Woman Opening the Door and his thoughts on it. After hearing it, Xue Liangliang immediately chimed in, "Then doesn't that boat on the other side make it a ferry across the Yellow Springs?"
Li Zhuiyuan nodded. "It does seem to fit together."
Xue Liangliang asked, "Xiaoyuan, do we head up the stairs, or..."
Li Zhuiyuan said, "Wait for rescue."
Just then, Tan Wenbin yelled, "The water's rising!"
Li Zhuiyuan and Xue Liangliang hurried over to check. The river's water level had indeed surged.
When they had climbed ashore, there had been a drop from the bank to the water. Now that gap was gone, and water was beginning to spill over the edge.
Li Zhuiyuan shone his flashlight back up at the rock wall. "No wonder the rock faces are so smooth up there. The water rises and washes over them."
Xue Liangliang remarked, "Nature's uncanny craftsmanship."
"Brother Liangliang, this doesn't feel like the time for poetry."
"Doesn't matter anymore, because we only have one option left."
"Let's go," Li Zhuiyuan decided. "Our only choice is to head up."
Runsheng took the lead, Li Zhuiyuan and Xue Liangliang walked side by side, and Tan Wenbin brought up the rear. Without any rehearsal, everyone naturally settled into their places.
The stone stairs were slick and lacked any handrail. They could only stoop low, advancing with extreme care, periodically pressing their hands against the treads to keep their balance.
Tan Wenbin quipped, "If only this were like a hotel with an elevator."
Xue Liangliang replied, "And I suppose you're hoping there's a room with a bed at the top so you can lie down and rest?"
"Naturally. And ideally a freshly brewed pot of tea."
After climbing for quite a distance, their flashlights finally caught sight of the top.
The summit was a dark crimson, complete with doors and windows—and the door stood wide open.
Li Zhuiyuan thought that the carving at the bottom of the stairs would have been far more fitting right here.
Tan Wenbin exclaimed, "I actually called it! There really is a room!"
Runsheng asked, "Xiaoyuan?"
"Let's go in, Brother Runsheng."
"Right."
There was no turning back now. In truth, the hope of rescue had been slim from the start; any rescue team would first have to deal with the massive beast above. Factoring in the subterranean river's rising waters, banking on outside help was pointless.
Runsheng stepped through the door, followed by Xue Liangliang. Before entering, Li Zhuiyuan inspected the window beside it and found that, like the door, it was crafted from stone, though its hue remained vivid, if somewhat dim.
This meant that no matter how high the subterranean river surged, it would never reach this height.
The double doors were immovable, carved solid so they couldn't be shut, permanently held open.
Stepping inside, all the furnishings proved to be sculpted from stone: two rows of benches, a bed, and a tea table complete with a tea set.
The teapot had no lid. Shining a flashlight inside revealed a white liquid. Looking up, Li Zhuiyuan noticed the ceiling wasn't flat, but bristled with hanging stone ridges. The largest and thickest stalactite pointed its tip directly into the open teapot.
Xue Liangliang pointed at the pot. "Binbin, your tea."
Tan Wenbin wondered aloud, "What is that stuff? I feel like I've seen a picture of something like this in a magazine."
Xue Liangliang answered, "A stalactite."
Tan Wenbin asked, "Sounds fancy. Can you drink it?"
"Calcium carbonate deposits," Xue Liangliang said.
Tan Wenbin sighed. "The scientific name completely ruins the romance."
Li Zhuiyuan scanned their surroundings and said, "There's no way forward."
The stone chamber was modest, roughly the size of a standard village living room, yet the only doorway was the one they had just entered. The other three sides were solid rock.
Tan Wenbin threw up his hands in disbelief. "Seriously? All that effort to build such a long staircase, just to display this?"
"Let's look around and see if there's a hidden passage," Li Zhuiyuan said, walking toward the stone bed. He ran his hand over it, then climbed up and shone his flashlight along the joints, only to discover the bed was completely seamless.
Xue Liangliang focused on examining the tea set, touching and twisting this and that. "Everything here is fixed stone. Look for anything that isn't attached—there might be a mechanism."
"Right!" Runsheng crouched down to inspect the benches.
"Right, look for a mechanism," Tan Wenbin replied, yawning as he drifted toward the east wall and rubbed his eyes. He wasn't slacking off—he was genuinely exhausted. After a full day's toil and searching for people through the first half of the night, it was well into the small hours now.
A few days ago, he would have been in the tent by now, competing with Runsheng to see whose snores were louder.
Leaning a hand against the wall out of habit, Tan Wenbin blinked hard to chase away the grogginess.
Having squeezed out a shred of energy, he moved to help search again, only to glance down in bewilderment at his left hand. To his astonishment, his left hand had sunk clean into the stone wall.
"Holy shit!"
Tan Wenbin instinctively tried to yank his hand free, but the harder he pulled, the stronger the suction pulling from the other side became.
When the other three turned at his yell, they saw Tan Wenbin pressed flat against the wall. Quick as Runsheng was to lunge and grab him, his fingers hadn't even brushed Tan Wenbin before the man was pulled completely inside and vanished.
As he passed through, the stone wall softened and rippled like liquid.
"Looks like Brother Binbin found the entrance," Li Zhuiyuan remarked.
Reaching out, Li Zhuiyuan pushed his fingers forward; they slipped right through, and as he thrust deeper, he felt the inward pull.
Instead of resisting, the boy stepped into it. The next moment, he felt himself plunged into a thick, gelatinous medium. The sensation didn't last long before he was hurled out the other side, stumbling forward several steps before catching his balance.
Aside from being soaked through once more, he felt no other ill effects.
Li Zhuiyuan looked ahead and saw Tan Wenbin slumped on the floor with his back turned. As Li Zhuiyuan raised his flashlight, his pupils shrank violently: a colossal serpent head loomed right before them.
"Aaargh!"
Tan Wenbin screamed at the top of his lungs.
Li Zhuiyuan stepped up and patted his arm. "It's fake. It's a stone carving."
"Aaargh..." Tan Wenbin's yells trailed off as he turned toward Li Zhuiyuan, his screams gradually dying down. His hands began groping over the ground. "Huh? Where's my flashlight?"
Evidently, upon tumbling into the chamber, he had shone his light straight into the carving's face and scared himself witless.
Li Zhuiyuan swept his beam across the ground to help him look, only to find the light caught nothing ahead.
"Brother Binbin, stop."
Tan Wenbin froze. Seeing it as well, he reached forward tentatively. "Xiaoyuan, it's a cliff ahead. My flashlight fell over the edge."
"It's fine. As long as you're safe," Li Zhuiyuan said. He walked to the edge and aimed his light downward, but the drop was too deep and dark; nothing showed in the gloom.
Just then, Runsheng and Xue Liangliang came through, both dripping wet.
Tan Wenbin immediately warned them, "There's a stone serpent head up ahead. Don't let it startle you."
Even with the warning, when their beams illuminated the serpent head, both men stiffened in their tracks.
Li Zhuiyuan had already walked below the head to examine it. At first, he had assumed it was merely an isolated carving of a head, but he was mistaken: only the head extended onto their platform, while the rest of its body rose vertically toward the ceiling.
Dense scales were carved along the serpent's body, providing ample handholds and footholds.
Li Zhuiyuan pointed up. "Let's climb."
There was no need to hesitate; they had no luxury of choice. To escape, they had to see this path through to the end. Most importantly, the serpent rose upward, matching their need to climb out.
The four scrambled onto the serpent head, scaling it rung by rung like a ladder.
Just like climbing the stone stairs earlier, they shone their flashlights upward as they ascended.
Suddenly, a flashlight beam caught a human figure standing near the tail above.
Another stone carving?
That was Li Zhuiyuan's first thought. But almost instantly, reality shattered his assumption—the figure stepped backward. It was moving!
All four climbers saw it, their heads tilted upward as they scaled the body.
At this unexpected sight, all four froze, uncertain whether to proceed.
"Xiaoyuan?"
"Brother Runsheng..."
Li Zhuiyuan had barely spoken when a sharp stab of pain pierced his brain. He pressed his forehead against the stone scales, relying on their chill to clear his head.
Beneath his grip, the serpent's body seemed to come alive, writhing and twisting.
Yet when Li Zhuiyuan lifted his head again, the movement was gone.
A hallucination?
"Xiaoyuan?" Runsheng asked again.
Li Zhuiyuan shook his head firmly, forcing himself to stay calm. "Brother Runsheng, go up!"
"Alright!"
Runsheng sped up his climb and reached the upper ledge.
When Li Zhuiyuan scrambled up, he found another platform ahead. Following the beam of Runsheng's flashlight, another giant serpent head loomed before them.
"No... something's wrong..."
Li Zhuiyuan gritted his teeth, a profound sense of wrongness settling over him.
Tan Wenbin and Xue Liangliang hauled themselves up as well, panting heavily.
Runsheng asked, "Xiaoyuan, do we keep climbing?"
Li Zhuiyuan raised a hand, signaling Runsheng to wait and let him think carefully about what was amiss.
He began retracing every detail from the moment they stepped onto the stone staircase, every word spoken among the four. The sense of anomaly grew stronger by the second, and he began to wonder: why had he only noticed it now?
Just then, his own voice rang out:
"Brother Runsheng, keep climbing! This is our ladder. As long as we keep climbing up, we're sure to make it out!"
Li Zhuiyuan's eyes widened. Who was mimicking his voice?
Yet when the boy tried to shout a warning, he discovered to his terror that no sound would leave his throat.
He clutched violently at his neck with both hands, straining to force a sound out to warn them, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make a peep.
He wanted to rush over and grab Runsheng, but his legs felt filled with lead, rooted to the spot.
"Brother Binbin, Brother Liangliang, hurry up! Grit your teeth and push through! Once we reach the top, we'll be out and we won't be tired anymore!"
"Right, keep pushing!"
"I'm fine, Xiaoyuan."
Tan Wenbin and Xue Liangliang pressed forward, while Runsheng had already taken the lead and climbed onto the serpent head.
Notice that I haven't moved! Notice that I'm not with you!
Yet as Xue Liangliang's flashlight beam swept across, Li Zhuiyuan saw to his horror that Runsheng, already atop the serpent head, had turned around and bent down to haul a young boy up.
Once pulled up, the boy turned his head deliberately to look at him.
The corners of the boy's mouth curled in a mocking sneer.
What in the world are you?
No—what kind of place is this really?!
Li Zhuiyuan closed his eyes and attempted to walk the yin path. In strange predicaments like this, walking the yin path often allowed him to perceive what was hidden from the mortal realm.
Yet he failed; he could not walk the yin path.
Ever since he had learned how to walk the yin path, this was the very first time he had failed.
Of course, there was another possibility...
He was already inside a dream!
Li Zhuiyuan looked upward and, following the method he used to end a yin walk, imagined himself floating up through ocean waters—floating up, up, up...
He woke up. Opening his eyes, he found himself standing in water that had already risen to his neck, mere inches from submerging his nose and mouth.
Turning his head, he saw all four of them standing in an orderly line at the base of the stone stairs. They had never even set foot on the very first step.
Runsheng, Tan Wenbin, and Xue Liangliang still had their eyes closed, completely oblivious.
Inexplicably, Li Zhuiyuan felt a gaze boring into him from behind. He spun around in the water to look behind him.
The stone carving of the Woman Opening the Door, which should have had its back to the staircase, was now turned directly toward it.
At the beginning, she had shown only her right hand, right leg, and the right side of her face, while the other half remained merged into the rock wall.
Now, she revealed her left hand, left leg, and the left side of her face.
On this side of her face, the corner of her mouth curled up in a mocking sneer.
Chapter 64