Chapter 44: Rising Fog

I was somewhat regretting agreeing to this plan, so I said, "Old Trowel Chen, why don't we try another route and think of something else?"

"No need," he shook his head and said. "Logistics Chen was right. This is the fastest way. Besides, it doesn't necessarily mean I'll die. We the Bai family have our unique secret arts."

"Secret arts? What kind of secret arts, Old Trowel Chen?" I asked, feeling a bit curious about what he meant.

He didn't answer directly.

"Let's go, the two of you follow right behind me," he casually picked up a piece of stone, and said in a deep voice, "Let the stone serve as the clapper, and the cave as the altar table. Let's put it to the test."

Sure enough, no sooner had we stepped inside than those creatures bounded out once more. They raised their arms high, holding stones in their hands, ready to strike.

Chen Jiansheng glared with wide-open eyes.

"Clack! Clack!" He struck the cave wall twice in succession with his stone.

Then, he began to chant in a loud voice:

"A single clapper drops six parts down, reaching from kings and lords to humble subjects; a king's clapper governs a hundred officials, a hundred officials' clappers govern myriads of commoners!"

Accelerating and deepening his tone, he continued to chant:

"A monk's clapper expounds the Buddhist Dharma, a heavenly master's clapper speaks of ghosts and gods; a single clapper travels the entire world, telling of men, ghosts, and all mortals!"

This chant sounded somewhat like a sort of incantation. Just hearing it in passing, coupled with the falling of the stone serving as the wooden clapper, made me feel a rush of blood to my head, and my entire body went rigid.

The mountain ghouls before my eyes froze with stones raised high, equally dazed and vacant.

"Quickly, go! Leave this place!" Chen Jiansheng shouted, urging Red Sister and me. His voice felt like a sudden enlightenment poured over the crown of my head.

Regaining my senses, I supported my injured arm and glanced at Red Sister.

With a cold expression, she looked at Chen Jiansheng and uttered just a single word.

"Go."

Just like that, the two of us walked right through the middle of those mountain ghouls. Those creatures stared blankly at Chen Jiansheng, making no move to attack Red Sister or me.

As we passed through the pack of ghouls, we heard Chen Jiansheng's loud laughter echoing from behind.

"Haha, my good folks, today we won't be telling the Romance of the Three Kingdoms; today we won't be telling Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio or the Investiture of the Gods. Today, we shall tell a single tale.

"Wu Song Fights the Tiger!

"It is said that within the borders of Qinghe County, there was a seller of steamed buns..."

Red Sister and I walked further and further away, and the sound of Chen Jiansheng behind us grew fainter and fainter, until finally we exited the cave and could no longer hear him at all.

In the tomb-robbing underworld, the descendants of the Southern and Northern factions were always at odds with deep-seated grudges. Never had I expected that in the end, it would be he who saved us.

Looking back now, I still haven't fully figured out the exact mechanics of telling ghost books, but I have a rough guess.

This method is similar to hypnosis. Much like modern professional high-level hypnotists, who can lull you to sleep simply by reciting a well-known story right before your eyes. It is just like when you were a child, and your mother held you in her arms while reading fairy tales to coax you to sleep; listening and listening, you drift off to slumber.

These esoteric and bizarre techniques, unless passed down within the bloodline, are impossible to explain or fully comprehend.

...

Once outside, Red Sister and I waited for half an hour, but Chen Jiansheng did not come out.

Red Sister cast one deep look at the cave, said nothing more, and did not wait any longer. She supported me as we left.

The landscape before us was a vast, steep slope without any paths, overgrown with wild weeds.

After figuring out the terrain here, I realized something. This massive underground palace structure was divided into upper and lower tiers, shaped like an hourglass tilted on its side. The place where we currently stood was right along the connecting line in the middle of the hourglass.

Standing below the slope and looking upward, one could not see the end at all.

Red Sister helped support my arm, and we began to climb the slope step by step.

The grass was not tall, but there was morning dew along the way. The dew soaked our trouser legs, and our shoes were basically wet through.

After climbing the slope for half an hour, a faint mist began to rise ahead. Suddenly, everything around us took on an air of illusion, as if we were walking within a dream.

"Let's take a rest, Yunfeng," Red Sister helped me sit down on the turf. Much like mountain climbing, I was indeed rather tired.

Just at that moment, my stomach betrayed me with two loud rumbles.

Red Sister said weakly, "When we fell, we lost one backpack. The remaining bit of biscuit rations has also been used up." She looked at the endless slope, frowning as she said, "I don't know how much longer the climb will take. This won't do; we need to eat something, even if it's just fruit. Yunfeng, don't move, just sit here and wait. I'll look around nearby to see if I can find anything to eat."

After Red Sister temporarily left, I was left all alone sitting on the turf.

At first it was fine, and I wasn't too worried, but gradually, the fog grew thicker and thicker.

Earlier I could still clearly see the path I had walked, but now, looking back downward, I could see practically nothing at all—just a vast expanse of whiteness everywhere.

As time ticked away second by second, panic set in.

With such a thick fog suddenly rising now, Red Sister definitely wouldn't be able to see me. I was afraid that if she missed her footing and met with disaster...

Every two or three minutes, I would shout out loudly where I sat: "Red Sister! Red Sister! I'm here! I'm right here!"

I hoped she could hear me and find her way to me following the direction of my voice.

But my plan misfired.

I waited in the same spot for a long time, until my throat was hoarse and smoking, yet I neither heard Red Sister reply nor caught sight of her person.

I didn't dare to move away easily, because I knew that when two people become separated in such circumstances, the best approach is for one party to stay put. If both ran about blindly, they would likely wander further and further apart.

The sky gradually grew dark, and the dense fog showed no signs of dispersing. I changed from sitting to lying down, my stomach growling with hunger.

I told myself to hold my ground; once dawn arrived and the fog cleared, Red Sister would surely be able to find me.

Cold and hungry, amidst these thoughts, I lay down on the turf and fell asleep.

The night was pitch black, likely well past midnight.

In my slumber, I seemed to hear Red Sister calling my name.

"Yunfeng, Yunfeng, come over here, I'm right here."

With a start, I snapped upright.

The movement was too abrupt and jarred my injured arm, causing me to gasp in a breath of cold air.

Everything around was pitch black. I sat on the ground, cocking my ears to listen carefully.

"Yunfeng, Yunfeng, come over here, I'm right here." The familiar voice came from behind me. Without a doubt, it was Red Sister's voice.

Fumbling in the dark along the direction from which the voice came, I cautiously walked toward that side.

As I walked, I shouted loudly, "Red Sister! Red Sister! Where are you? Why can't I see you?"

A voice drifted back from the darkness.

"Yunfeng, Yunfeng, come over here, I'm right here."

I halted my steps, frowning, as I felt something was amiss.

Red Sister had called out three times, but the crucial point was that every single time, the content of her call was identical, and even the tone and speed were exactly the same!

Swallowing hard, unwilling to give up, I tried shouting out loud once more: "Red Sister, where are you?"

Sure enough...

"Yunfeng, Yunfeng, come over here, I'm right here."

Four times! Red Sister's reply was worded in the exact same way every single time!

My face turned pale, and I quietly took a step back.

Reaching out, my hand brushed against a small hard object tucked inside my trouser pocket. It was the gauru box amulet that Yao Yumen had given me earlier, which she claimed could ward off evil spirits. Because it had been getting in the way earlier, I had taken off the necklace and stuffed it into my pocket.

Clenching that red-corded gauru box amulet tightly in my hand, my mind began to run wild with terrifying thoughts.

The fog was too heavy, the ground was wet—had Red Sister missed her footing and fallen to her death?

Was this her ghost coming to find me?

Was Red Sister's ghost afraid that I would feel lonely left behind here all by myself?

And did she want to take me away with her to keep her company?