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墨書 Inktalez
The National Day holiday had arrived, and a few of my friends were eager to take advantage of it. The chubby one suggested going to Beijing to watch the Raising the National Flag ceremony, climb the Great Wall, and visit the places where Fat Orange and Huan Huan had their dramatic encounters. He was even shouting about wanting to take a soft sleeper train.
He looked like someone who had never seen the world; I was tired of those trips, having flown there countless times before.
"Let’s go to Sanya! Beaches, sunshine—just thinking about it is beautiful!" suggested Ma Gan.
"No way, no way! Sanya is too crowded; it’s deafening!" Bucktooth opposed.
I didn’t care as long as they were willing to go with me and not leave me behind. Jiang Xiaoli was like a sticky plaster; last time she designed for Su Qing, she acted like she was the hero afterward, and this time she wasn’t going to miss the chance to drag me into something again. She proposed, "I have a place in mind that’s absolutely thrilling, but let me say this upfront: if anyone is scared, just pretend I didn’t say anything!"
She had a knack for stirring people up; after all, who would want to admit in front of a girl that they were chicken? Although I felt a bit uneasy inside.
Counting her in, we set off with five people: me, the chubby one, Ma Gan, Bucktooth, and Jiang Xiaoli.
We first took a flight to Meidu, then switched to a train down to the city and finally took a car to the county… It wasn’t until the next day that we reached our destination—a very ordinary town. The "three-wheeled vehicle" dropped us off on a desolate hillside.
Seeing our disappointed faces, Jiang Xiaoli said mysteriously, "This place is called Yunwu Mountain. Look down; doesn’t it feel like you’re standing in the clouds, in a fairyland?"
But after traveling so far just to see this? It was underwhelming!
Noticing our disdain, Jiang Xiaoli looked around and lowered her voice: "The place we need to go is right beneath us; we need someone to guide us!"
Not far away, an old shepherd with a white towel on his head noticed us whispering and approached: "What are you all doing?"
"We want to pay our respects at the temple but can’t find the way!" Jiang Xiaoli pulled out a cigarette from my bag and offered it to the old man.
"Do you dare?" he asked after accepting the smoke, scanning us with his eyes. "Do you have the guts?"
My unease grew stronger.
But the chubby one perked up: "We’re here now; what do you think? Do we have guts or not?"
"Alright!" The old man whistled sharply; two dogs perked up their ears and ran over to him. He gestured for them before they dashed off to herd some sheep.
Satisfied, he tucked the cigarette behind his ear and pulled out a pipe from his waist, filling it with tobacco for a couple of puffs before extending his hand: "Let’s see some money first."
I sensed trouble and handed him five crisp bills: "Old man, here’s your money. If you dare trick me, I’ll make sure you regret it!"
Truly, poverty breeds cunning; he dared ask for 500 just for guiding us.
"Don’t act tough; just don’t wet your pants when you get inside!" The shepherd ignored my warning and led the way.
In the autumn grass, I felt a chill creeping up the back of my neck, as if a cold gaze was fixed upon me. I turned around in alarm, only to find the others—Fatty and his friends—laughing and joking, completely oblivious to my presence.
"The Great Monk is about the same age as me; he doesn’t easily give fortunes anymore. You all go play for a while, and I’ll take you back up later. Just give me 200 on the way back!" The Old Man bargained with me as we walked.
I had plenty of money, but I wasn't about to let this old conman swindle me easily.
I looked away, ignoring him.
Jiang Xiaoli chimed in, "Sir, how old are you?"
"67," the Old Man replied.
That old rascal was quite cunning; claiming the Great Monk was his age meant he’d have to be over a hundred. What nonsense!
We pushed through a thicket of grass and climbed over a cliff, revealing a narrow, deep stone crevice before us.
The Old Man stopped and looked back at us, panting: "This is it. Do you have the guts to go down?" His words were directed at everyone, but his gaze was fixed squarely on me.
To be honest, I was genuinely scared.
The crevice was so narrow that only one person could pass at a time; someone like Fatty would probably have to turn sideways to squeeze through. More importantly, the crevice extended almost straight down at a 90-degree angle into an abyss that seemed bottomless, and I had no idea where it led.
Desolate mountains, ancient caves, and utter isolation—it was terrifying no matter how I thought about it.
Seeing my hesitation, Jiang Xiaoli stepped forward: "Sir, you lead the way; I'll follow."
The others had no objections. With the Old Man's condescending and mocking look in my direction, I steeled myself and followed.
As we descended step by step on the stone steps, an increasing chill enveloped me.
The passage was long and dark; the deeper we went, the darker it became. Looking up at the sky, all I could see was a thin sliver of light.
We relied on our phones for illumination as we moved slowly forward. The vertical drop beneath us seemed like a gaping maw ready to swallow us whole. At each bend, I felt something lurking in the shadows watching me; combined with the coolness below, goosebumps prickled my skin.
I lost track of how long we had been walking downwards when the stone crevice finally opened into a horizontal cave. The Old Man rambled on with his "ghost stories": "My grandfather said his grandfather told him that a giant python once lived in this cave. All these years later, the python is gone, but watch out for little snakes underfoot..."
The walls of the cave were no higher than 1.7 meters at their tallest point and barely 1.5 meters at their lowest. We had to bend down as we moved forward.
"Oh my! What’s that? It feels cold!"
Everyone turned back in fear as our flashlight beams converged on a long red snake winding around Ma Gan's ankle.
"Ah!" Ma Gan screamed, suddenly lifting his foot and flinging the snake toward me. I dropped my phone and crouched down with my hands over my head.
I didn’t know where the snake went; my phone fell to the ground, illuminating four or five baby snakes as thick as chopsticks slithering toward the light. In that eerie glow, I thought I saw a face with long hair cascading down and blood trickling from its eye corner staring back at me.
“Ah—!”
I let out a long scream as I suddenly sat up, my head colliding hard against the stone ceiling.
Stars exploded in my vision, and as dizziness washed over me, I felt something cool drop onto my neck, sending a shiver down my spine. My heart raced uncomfortably.
In the haze, the stone walls seemed to sway, accompanied by a deafening roar. The stones on either side slowly pressed in on me, while the ceiling gradually descended. I wanted to run, but my body felt paralyzed; I wanted to shout, yet my mouth opened in silence. A pale face stared at me, its icy hand gripping my neck and ankle, dragging me away…
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