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墨書 Inktalez
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps pierced through the silence, sharp and jarring in an environment where even a pin drop could be heard. It shattered the stillness, each step feeling as if it were crushing my heart under its weight, forcing me to bear an immense pressure.
I jumped up, as if that overwhelming weight had settled above me, compelling me to move. I needed to summon all my strength to fight back against it.
Clearly, I wasn't the only one feeling this way. At the moment I sprang up, I saw Jack leap into action as well, and Fatty —he jumped straight from the ground onto a rock.
But just then, I seemed to hear a faint sound, like a bubble bursting with a soft 'pop.' Then the flames fueled by fish oil extinguished. The two glow sticks emitted a cold blue light that illuminated our faces and the small area of ground around us, creating an eerie and terrifying atmosphere.
"Who is it?!"
It was Fatty who spoke. Not because he was particularly calm, but because he was the only one among us who could muster any sound.
My throat felt as dry as that of a traveler stranded in the Sahara for half a month; I opened my mouth but no sound came out, as if my vocal cords had failed me. I didn't want to admit it, but I had to acknowledge that at that moment, I was scared.
However, Fatty's situation wasn't any better. His voice trembled noticeably, clearly struggling to hold it together. Another sign of his current state was that he stood on the rock right in front of me, and I could see him repeatedly grasping at his belt. After several attempts, he still couldn't pull out his One-Eyed Beast Flashlight.
"Heh heh."
A laugh echoed from the darkness. It was a woman's voice. It sounded somewhat hoarse, as if something were lodged in her throat or like me at that moment—too long trapped in the Sahara with a parched throat.
"Xiao Ting?!"
Fatty exclaimed with surprise and delight.
I think so too. This time, there are only two women in the Underground Cavern, and Tang Yumo is right beside me. The other woman must be Xiao Ting.
Jack and I got excited, holding up our Glow Sticks as we jumped onto the rocks. The sound of footsteps and soft hissing came from just behind the stones, and we estimated that a few steps would bring us face to face with Xiao Ting. Fatty was even more thrilled; if it weren't for the Glow Sticks in our hands, he would have dashed over without a second thought.
"Don't go over there!"
Just as we were about to approach Xiao Ting, Tang Yumo's trembling voice reached us. Her tremor was more pronounced, but her tone was resolute.
"It's not Xiao Ting. None of them could have made it this far. They couldn't have arrived here before us."
Tang Yumo's words hit me like a bucket of cold water, soaking me to the bone. It suddenly dawned on me that the sound was coming from upstream of the Underground River, where just ahead lay an endless expanse of water. No matter who it was, even if they had nine lives, they couldn't swim here from the river. As for walking along the side of the Underground River to reach its end and then circling back around the Flood Barrier, there was no way she could have gotten ahead of us.
So who is she?
The terrifying thought sent a chill down my spine. I certainly didn't have Fatty's courage to discern whether a ghost was male or female. Besides, it was obvious that it was a female ghost—no need for distinction.
"Damn."
It seemed Fatty also realized that the person making the noise couldn't possibly be Xiao Ting. However, this misunderstanding infuriated him, replacing his calmness with anger as he swiftly drew out his One-Eyed Beast Flashlight from his waist.
With a snap, as the flashlight beam cut through the darkness, a figure appeared on the shore not far from us—completely naked and gracefully alluring.
Perfect. That was the only word I could use to describe her. If there were such a thing as a perfect woman in this world, I had just seen her.
An author might use "exquisite beauty" to describe the most beautiful heroine, but at this moment, that term felt inadequate. Because I had witnessed beauty without flaw—beyond exquisite.
By all rights, someone like me, a novice, should be bleeding from the nose at this moment. Instead, I was sweating—cold sweat that streamed into my eyes like a flowing stream.
We both jumped up as if there were springs under our feet, bouncing several times before finally coming to a stop. We had both jumped off that rock.
Of course, Tang Yumo couldn’t jump off the rock; she didn’t jump at all. She just stared intently at the woman on the riverbank.
She knew her; we all knew her, but not as well as she did. The person Tang Yumo was staring at was Tang Yumo herself.
One naked Tang Yumo and one fully clothed Tang Yumo were locked in a gaze. Meanwhile, the three of us stood at an equal distance from them, our terrified eyes darting back and forth between the two Tang Yumos. At that moment, even Tang Yumo’s bare body couldn’t draw my attention; one word kept repeating in my mind: unbelievable.
“Twins?” Fatty nudged me.
“Unbelievable.” The word slipped out before I could stop it, but it wasn’t an answer. What I was really thinking about was how this naked Tang Yumo had gotten here.
Water still dripped from the naked Tang Yumo, and her delicate white feet left two wet footprints on the ground. It was clear she had swum ashore from the water. But believing that such a fragile girl could have crossed or swum upstream to get here was harder than believing an ant could kill an elephant.
“You’ve gotten stronger. Stronger than I imagined,” said the clothed Tang Yumo suddenly.
From her expression, the clothed Tang Yumo seemed very nervous; her tone was unstable, as if she were more anxious than we were. Sweat was clearly running down her cheeks.
In contrast, the naked Tang Yumo remained calm and collected, staring at her other self with her usual icy gaze.
I shouted into the air, “What on earth is going on?”
I didn’t know which Tang Yumo to ask; I was utterly confused by the scene before me. The little trust I had just begun to establish with Tang Yumo evaporated in that instant. I could only shift my gaze between the two Tang Yumos, hoping one of them would provide an explanation.
But one thing was clear: these two Tang Yumos were opposites. Whether it was the calm one or the one drenched in cold sweat, both looked at each other with eyes full of daggers, as if they wished to tear each other apart.
"Follow me and wish you good luck." The dressed Tang Yumo responded to me. "Also, take your damn eyes off me!" "Fuck. It's her I'm looking at." Fatty's retort let me know that the last words of the clothed Tang Yumo were not mine. "She is mine." Tang Yumo's face turned red. A head-on conflict with Fatty has never happened to Tang Yumo, and even in the entire Hakka Village there are very few people who have a head-on conflict with Fatty. Fortunately, I have already turned my attention to Tang Yumo who is wearing clothes, otherwise I would be the one who is embarrassed. The skin on my face is not as thick as Fatty. At this time, Tang Yumo suddenly had something in her hand, and it appeared like a magic trick. I didn't even see when she took it. I know this thing, it’s Hakka People’s homemade Fire Oil Bomb. Almost without waiting for us to react, Tang Yumo threw this Fire Oil Bomb towards the naked Tang Yumo, and at the same time turned around and ran like the end of the Underground River. (To Be Continued...)
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