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墨書 Inktalez
My abrupt statement startled both of them. They slapped their faces as if they were trying to confirm it wasn't their own, then exchanged a glance. Liu Squad Leader's voice trembled, "Brother Qiang, don't scare me like that."
I wearily lifted my gaze to him. "Did you encounter Branch on your way here?"
"No, I just ran straight down this path. I didn't see Branch," Liu Squad Leader replied, lacking confidence. However, his expression grew increasingly grim.
I shook my head. "This passage is too wide; the brightness of your torch can't reach across it. Even if you ran past Branch, you wouldn't have seen it."
We had run too far. If we truly missed Branch, going back would be nearly impossible since we had no understanding of this cave or the mindset of the Ancients who built it. My analysis frightened them, shifting their mood from desperately fleeing the cave entrance to worrying about how to return if we couldn't.
Zhao Squad Leader's emotions were written all over his face. The rollercoaster ride from dead end to escape route and back to dead end nearly drove him to collapse. He unleashed a torrent of shouts at Liu Squad Leader without holding back. After venting for nearly ten minutes, he leaned against the Cave Wall, cradling his head between his legs, his shoulders shaking violently. Though he made no sound, it was clear he was desperately trying to suppress his sobs. Zhao Squad Leader had broken down.
Watching Zhao Squad Leader struggle to hold back tears reminded me of Xiao Guolin's group. Whether it was Hu Aiguo, Cao Mingzhe, or even Xiao Guolin himself, they might not be as resilient as Zhao Squad Leader; their situation was likely worse. We couldn't afford to lose our composure; if we scattered again, there would truly be no way out.
"We can't run around aimlessly anymore; let's try to find a way back," I said to the still bewildered and self-reproaching Liu Squad Leader. "By the way, what exactly was that ghostly face you saw?"
Liu Squad Leader showed a tense expression. "I called out for you to look; didn't you see it?"
I thought for a moment and vaguely remembered him shouting something, but it had been too chaotic at the time; my focus was entirely on that Cephalopod Monster. I shook my head again. "I didn't see it; stop speaking in riddles and tell me what you actually saw."
"The ceiling is very high," Liu Squad Leader said nervously as he swallowed hard. His eyes involuntarily darted up towards the tunnel's ceiling before continuing, "I saw some white things up there that looked like patterns carved into the stone."
Hearing this, I exploded with frustration. "You got scared by some carvings? You brought us here because of that? Have you lost your mind?!"
Liu Squad Leader's face turned crimson, the veins on his forehead bulging. He was agitated and showed great displeasure at my accusations, waving the torch in his hand as he shouted back, "Can you let me finish? I admit I acted impulsively earlier, but if you let me explain, you'll understand that I had my reasons. Bringing you all in here has at least temporarily kept us safe; we might have died out there."
The flickering of the torch made Liu Squad Leader's expression shift erratically, appearing increasingly ferocious. I began to worry that he might actually burst a blood vessel; his skull already had a severe dent. If something went wrong because of this, it would be a heavy psychological blow for me, as any issue on his part would be an unsolvable problem.
I suppressed my anger and resentment and replied curtly, "Fine, I want to hear your explanation. Otherwise, I suspect you have ulterior motives!"
Liu Squad Leader took a moment to calm himself, and after a brief silence, he said, "I may look like some kind of sculpture, but the moment the flames rose, those things moved. They seemed afraid of the fire and quickly retreated into the surrounding darkness. In that instant, as they moved, I saw their individual forms. They were human faces, each wearing a strange smile. What else could come down from above besides what I saw? Was it wrong for me to bring you all in here?"
His agitation lessened the fearful expression on his face; his flushed cheeks resembled an angry rooster—an avian warrior.
His words left me feeling bewildered and skeptical. It wasn't that I thought he was lying; rather, I believed he might have misinterpreted what he saw in that situation. The flames had flared up only for an instant before plunging us back into darkness—an even deeper darkness. In such fleeting light, mistaking something or experiencing hallucinations was understandable. Moreover, his paranoid behavior earlier made me uneasy; I leaned towards believing it was merely his illusion.
I decided then and there not to let him hold the torch. Allowing someone who was paranoid and possibly on the verge of bursting a blood vessel to determine our direction seemed like a death wish.
I kicked Zhao Squad Leader, who was still in a daze, and asked him, "How are you? We still need to find Captain Xiao and the others; we will get out of here. Are you listening?"
Zhao Squad Leader had mostly recovered by now; at least he no longer shrugged his shoulders. Perhaps he couldn’t control his emotions or didn’t want us to see the tears on his face; he didn’t look up or speak but waved his hand slightly to indicate that he was listening.
Seeing that Zhao Squad Leader couldn't help much for now, I turned back to Liu Squad Leader and asked, "What did that ghostly face look like? It can't just be a face. How big was it? How was it fixed to the ceiling? Were there any ropes hanging it?"
My questions stumped Liu Squad Leader; he thought for a long while before replying, "The time was too short; I was focused entirely on it. I wanted to see clearly what it really was. But besides its face being white, everything else was black—I couldn't even guess what its body looked like. However, it must have been quite large; you can imagine how high the ceiling is, yet I saw its face clearly. If its head-to-body ratio is normal, then it must be a huge creature."
Seeing Liu Squad Leader's earnest demeanor made me hesitate as well; I couldn't be sure whether this thing actually existed or not. However, the terrifying sound of footsteps we heard earlier was undeniable. If Liu Squad Leader was right and there were indeed a group of horrifying ghost-faced monsters chasing us, our current weapons would hardly suffice for self-defense. This made me scratch my head; finding our way back didn't seem so urgent anymore since retracing our steps could lead us into an even deadlier trap.
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