Chapter Eleven: The Immortal Buried in the Silent Old House

I froze, staring at them coldly.

No!

Their mouths all seemed to be pursed toward my right shoulder. I instinctively turned my head, and my brain let out a sharp buzz. A strange hand was slowly crawling up from behind my back, gently resting on my shoulder!

Almost as a reflex, I swung the small hammer in my hand, aiming to smash it against that hand. Before the hammer could land, my body was violently yanked by something, and I plummeted downward at high speed!

"Snap!"

After the sound of the impact, I landed directly on something soft. Ignoring the pain in my body, I immediately performed a roll, gripped my machete, guarded my front, and retreated several steps.

Hearing a few cries, Xu Qingguo and Wu Ping also tumbled down. Fortunately, the height was only five or six meters, and the ground was soft mud, so they were uninjured. Xu Qingguo rubbed her arm, her pretty face twisted in discomfort as she asked urgently, "What the hell was that?!"

I quickly moved toward them. "That hand that grabbed the fatty!"

The three of us formed a defensive triangle formation almost simultaneously, bracing against another attack.

This was a massive natural mountain cavern. Where the water flowed down, stone troughs had been fashioned from blue stone, channeling the water into a winding path that stretched far into the distance. We stood guard cautiously for a while, but there was no movement. The situation was grim; I had a premonition that the ghost thing was lurking nearby in the shadows, watching us, and we had to leave as soon as possible.

"Follow the water channel!"

We hurried forward along the winding trench. Ten minutes later, Xu Qingguo suddenly stopped, her face deathly pale, staring blankly ahead.

"What is it?"

"Dong Chuan... something happened."

Our flashlights immediately flickered to life, shining in unison ahead. A dozen meters away, Fatty Dong was covered in blood, his hair disheveled, his clothes in tatters, his eyes showing only the whites. With a grim and sinister expression, he hopped toward us like a zombie, legs rigid and unbending.

I felt a mixture of horror and speechlessness. The dead fatty came to ward off evil and disaster, but instead of catching a single ghost, he had become a zombie himself?

"You damn fatty! What are you doing?!"

My stern rebuke received no feedback. Instead, Fatty Dong hopped faster and faster, his chubby face becoming even more hideous. Wu Ping and I both raised our guns, but since Fatty Dong was our teammate and his condition was unknown, neither of us dared to pull the trigger.

Fatty Dong, nearly manic, closed in on us rapidly. This wasn't right! I roared at them, "Retreat!"

The three of us scrambled backward frantically. As it happened, I was walking too fast and tripped over a stone, falling to the ground. Fatty Dong let out a toothy, sinister grin, his fat body preparing to pounce on me viciously!

"Swish!"

Wu Ping’s dagger flew out of his hand, straight at him. Seeing this, Fatty Dong’s face showed shock, and he rolled on the ground.

"Clack!" The dagger landed to the side. The guy lay on the ground, laughing up at the sky. "Just tell me, were you scared? Hahaha!"

Heaven! If I committed sins in my past life, please strike me down with a bolt of lightning, but do not make me teammates with such a dog!

I was filled with rage. I scrambled up, charged over, and kicked him. Even though Fatty Dong was unusually agile, he didn't expect me to snap; he let out a pig-like howl of pain. My fists rained down on him. Fatty Dong shrieked and rolled away.

"Damn... it was just a joke, Xiao Meng, have you lost your mind?"

Wu Ping rushed over, shoved me aside, grabbed Fatty Dong by the collar, and spat out each word: "If you play a game like this again, I will kill you!"

Wu Ping was usually a man of few words and little emotion, but at this moment, I saw a fierce, murderous glint in his eyes. Hearing this, Fatty Dong shoved Wu Ping away and thrust his head forward. "Come on! Try it, Taoist!"

Wu Ping snorted coldly, his expression icy as he put away his gun. The fatty straightened his clothes, looking utterly disdainful. "I killed a dozen 'Ghost-Face Grandpas' to clear the path for you lot. I was just trying to lighten the mood—who are you pulling that long face for? Damn it!"

Although Xu Qingguo had been speechless to the extreme, she maintained a sense of poise and waved at Wu Ping. "Master Dong, if exploring a tomb is like marching to war, then let's do away with such jokes. Let's consider this one over."

"What did you just say? Ghost-Face Grandpas?"

Fatty Dong sniffed. "Duh! Those are the things that dragged me down!"

After saying this, he led us forward. Lying on the ground were a dozen large bats with dark brown faces covered in strange spots. They were hideous and terrifying, looking as if they were wearing Nuo dance masks. Their bodies were covered in knife wounds, and the blood gave off a foul, fishy stench.

They were actually Yellow-Shouldered Flower-Faced Bats. However, because of their frightening appearance, their potent venom, and their shrill cries, the people in the mountainous regions of Gan and Min called them "Ghost-Face Grandpas," believing them to be soul-snatchers from the underworld and a sign of misfortune.

I frowned deeply. "Are you sure it was a Ghost-Face Grandpa that grabbed you?"

Fatty Dong retorted, "What else? Look at these claws—don't they look like dried-up corpse hands?"

I was certain it wasn't. The thing that had gripped my shoulder was furry, and the palms and backs of the hands were not only different in color but also uniform in size—extremely strange.

"Leave this place and find the tomb!" I instructed, picking up my flashlight and leading the way.

After twenty minutes of rapid travel along the canal, the first tomb I had ever sought appeared before my eyes. It was not only beautiful but also poetic.

It was a two-square-meter pool with a large stone platform rising from the center of the water. On the platform, a small blue-stone house had been built, constructed in perfect proportion to a dwelling for the living—doors, windows, eaves, and tiles, everything was there. A medicinal gourd hung on the wall. However, the doors, windows, and other structures meant for ventilation were all sealed shut with stone.

Around the pool were planted bamboo, wisteria, wintersweet, and red maples. Because of a perfectly positioned crack in the dome of the underground space, moonlight poured down, bathing the pool in a soft glow. Bamboo buds, petals, vines, and maple leaves drifted on the surface, and colorful, strange fish swam in the water. With the gentle breeze, falling blossoms danced like iridescent garments—fragrant and serene.

This wasn't a tomb; it was a breathtaking landscape painting!

We looked at each other in disbelief. Fatty Dong exclaimed, "What the hell is this!"

Xu Qingguo’s eyes were filled with delight, her poetic nature overflowing. Her cherry lips parted as she murmured, "Old pond holds the scent, flowers leave their trace; ancient house buries the immortal, in silence and grace."

"It’s too beautiful! Wu Ping, give me the camera!"

Wu Ping took a Nikon camera from his pack and handed it to her.

"Click! Click!" Xu Qingguo began focusing and taking pictures.

To my surprise, when the camera flash went off, those colorful fish in the water suddenly became agitated and excited, thrashing about, splashing the pool water, and sending fallen flowers flying. I had never imagined that grave robbing could feel like a garden party. I turned to Fatty Dong and said, "Fatty, go test the depth of the water."

Fatty Dong looked at me, speechless. "Xiao Meng, are you trying to play me for a fool? I charged to the front twice already and almost died. No matter how tough my luck is, I can't push my luck a third time. You go yourself!"

Damn it! This idiot had gotten smart.

I had no choice but to pick up a long branch from the side, walk to the edge of the pool, and poke it into the water.

Suddenly! A tremendous force surged through the branch, trying to drag me into the water!