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墨書 Inktalez
Not long after, Gu Chen's phone rang again.
Seeing Gu Chen's call, a surge of joy rushed through me, only to be replaced by a heavy sense of dread. The fact that Gu Chen was calling meant something had happened. But whether it was good or bad remained uncertain. There were only two possibilities for Gu Chen's call: either Guan Zengbin was safe and sound, or Guan Zengbin had died.
The phone continued to ring, and I stared at the green button, hesitating to press it.
In this world, death is an inevitable part of life; it's a natural occurrence. We live our lives to say goodbye to those around us. We bid farewell to childhood friends, to the girls we secretly loved, to college classmates, to our parents, and to our lovers.
Eventually, we find ourselves alone, facing the end of a brief and lonely existence.
Yet along the way, we encounter friends who refuse to leave, lovers who won't let go, and family members who cling on. I could no longer discern what kind of feelings I had for Guan Zengbin. Was it love, friendship, or familial affection?
No one is born close to others; I've always preferred solitude. Yet somehow, Guan Zengbin had become an indispensable part of my life. After finally allowing someone into my world, was I really going to lose them so soon?
Taking a few deep breaths, I pressed the button and held the phone to my ear.
Aside from the sound of cars speeding by, everything around me was silent. After a moment of quiet on the other end, Gu Chen spoke up: "Wu Meng, it turns out this tombstone can be moved. Once we shift it aside, we found a staircase underneath. We're going down now; there’s no signal underground. No matter what happens, you won’t be able to reach us. Don’t worry—if we can make it back up first, I'll call you."
Gu Chen and the others were heading down to search while we still had about two hours before reaching Xingdong Village.
"Got it. Be careful," I replied slowly.
"Understood," Gu Chen said.
Then the call ended.
I closed my eyes. Since last night, my nerves had been tightly strung, and at this moment, I felt utterly exhausted, longing for sleep.
Whether two hours is long or short is a philosophical question. When we are playing games, two hours feel incredibly short; during an exam, they seem interminably long. It was only when a police officer woke me up that I realized we had already arrived at Xingdong Village.
I glanced at my phone—there were no calls from Gu Chen, which meant he was still underground.
Thinking of this, I called the village chief. This morning, he had experienced a thrilling scene, and the first thing he said when he answered my call was, "Brother Wu, have you caught the murderer?"
I replied, "The murderer has indeed been caught, so I need you to come help keep an eye on him."
"Me?" the village chief asked.
I quickly added, "Get the folks from your village; they should be getting up now. Hurry to the Foot of the Mountain."
With that, I turned to one of the police officers and said, "You wait here for the village chief; the rest of you come with me."
Without wanting to linger any longer, I led the remaining two people upward. We climbed the mountain along the path we had taken before and saw that the tombstone had already been pushed aside. Shining my flashlight inside, I discovered a long staircase.
We exchanged glances for a moment before we all descended. This was quite a long staircase; as we went down, it seemed to stretch on for over twenty steps. The deeper we went, the warmer it became underground. I breathed a sigh of relief; if it was this warm, Guan Zengbin should not freeze to death down there.
The staircase was not built evenly but was sturdy enough.
Finally reaching the bottom of the stairs, we shone our flashlights around and realized we were in a very spacious area. It looked large enough to accommodate several heavy trucks. The floor and walls were coated with cement; however, I couldn't understand why such a large space had been constructed.
The Wolf Fang Flashlight illuminated a wide area ahead, revealing many branching paths in the distance.
I looked at the forks in the road, and there were no obvious signs. No wonder Gu Chen hadn’t come out of here for over an hour; it seemed that Uncle-Type Personality was indeed right—he really didn’t know this place. But what exactly was this location used for by the Murderer?
And who was the Personality responsible for constructing this underground space?
I glanced at the four paths before us, and we only had three people.
“Let’s go,” I said. “Stay alert and split up. If you encounter any other forks inside, come back out. Understand? Don’t get yourself lost.”
The others looked at me, uncertain whether to follow my instructions.
From their expressions, I sensed a different emotion—a kind of watchfulness directed at me. I began to understand; it was highly likely that Liu had seen my actions while we were underground in Dongxing City. Yet Liu hadn’t chosen to leave; instead, he opted to keep an eye on me. Was Liu suspicious of me? I suddenly recalled that after my meeting with Zhao Mingkun, Liu had returned only after I did.
Did Liu know something? And how would he choose to act?
At that moment, I felt as if all forces were intertwined, both within and outside the system. These forces resembled fish in a murky pond; everyone could sense each other's presence, yet no one could see anyone else.
Some fish swam carefree in the pond, completely unaware that a storm was approaching. Others sensed something amiss and hid away early. Some had been lurking from the start, waiting for the storm to arrive. Meanwhile, a few displayed overwhelming dominance from the beginning, orchestrating the entire situation.
And most fish were merely spectators in this pond.
What kind of fish would I be?
I knew several people were tasked with monitoring my movements, so I spoke up: “Right now, someone is in danger; this is not the time for internal strife.”
With that, I stepped into one of the forks in the road.
I turned back to see the three of them exchanging glances, while the other two chose to walk down different paths.
The path I selected seemed endless as I shone my flashlight ahead. The dim and narrow corridor instilled a sense of fear within me. I instinctively touched my waist, only to realize that I wasn’t carrying any weapons. If I had known, I would have brought my gun with me; at this moment, it was likely still at the City Bureau.
Lost in thought, I continued down the corridor until it suddenly opened up ahead.
This was another space, but as I stepped into it, a chill enveloped me. It was a damp cold that reminded me of winters spent in the south. Some say that the cold in the north is a physical assault—dry and biting, striking directly at you. But the cold in the south is like a magical attack; although it isn’t as low in temperature as the north, it seeps into your bones with an eerie chill.
And this cold was accompanied by moisture.
It was clearly more humid here than outside.
I closed my eyes, recalling the map I had seen while searching for Dongxing City and Old Town. Next to Dongxing Village was the Xingdong River. However, this river was not large enough for navigation; it was only about ten meters deep and quite murky with high sediment content.
Estimating from my earlier descent, I felt that I had been going downward continuously. Based on the twenty steps I had taken earlier, I should now be about ten meters underground. The gravestones were located halfway up the mountain, which meant I was deep within its body. Having descended several more meters, I must now be entirely inside the mountain.
The dampness I felt must be from the Xingdong River's Underground River. If I were to break through this wall here, it was likely that water from the Underground River would rush in. Although the river’s flow wasn’t strong, its impact could still be significant.
I touched the walls around me, feeling an intense chill. Pressing my ear against them, I could hear faint sounds of water flowing.
Furrowing my brow, I wondered why this underground space was constructed so large and why there were so many paths.
At that moment, I suddenly recalled my experience in Lin Fen Tomb, where countless paths had bewildered us. These paths were likely designed to confuse us; there must only be one correct route among them. Yet at this moment, I had no idea if this path was indeed the right one.
I shone my flashlight around and noticed several other paths ahead as well.
After thinking for a moment, I used some stones on the ground to draw a unique mark on a fork in the path, then I walked in.
However, it wasn't long before I heard the sound of someone running ahead.
"Who is it?" I called out.
But there was no response, only the sound of footsteps echoing in the air.
"I'm a police officer! Who are you?" I shouted again, but the person running in the distance still did not answer me.
If they were also a police officer, they would surely stop upon hearing my call. Yet this person only ran faster after hearing me. I realized that this could not be a police officer. And I had no idea who else might be in this underground space besides the police.
With that thought in mind, I immediately chased after them, but at that moment, I heard a gunshot from afar.
The sound echoed through the silent space, traveling far and wide.
I could tell that the gunshot came from not too far ahead of me.
What on earth was happening?
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