The World Below Surface

Time crept by, as if reluctant to unveil the impending dread.

Upon the mountain path, a dreadful gathering of wicked ghosts loomed ahead, their faces hidden under decaying skin and clotted gore. The wind howled and whipped their burial cloths, making them seem like they could vanish any moment, but they kept moving forward with a grim resolve. The endless horde stretched beyond sight, its end lost in the shadows.

At long last, the vanguard malevolent spirit breached the village's threshold.

Unbeknownst to Lu Yan and his companions, the dire forebodings they had harbored were not without cause. If they stayed in the village, they would face a terrible fate. It was a danger that would be unleashed when the evil spirits, imprisoned in the hinterlands, were set free.

Escape was an impossibility, a truth that held true for all.

With each advancing step, the lead malevolent spirit began a subtle transformation. By the time he reached a young girl, his ghastly countenance had wholly morphed into that of an ordinary person.

Had Lu Yan and her comrades been present, they would have been astounded to find that this malevolent spirit bore an uncanny resemblance to Yan Guang Yao.

Simultaneously, the lifeless body of Yan Guang Yao, who had met his demise in the village, stirred with a deliberate, spectral purpose.

One after another, malevolent ghosts with decaying faces emerged from the mountains, followed by the gradual reanimation of villagers who ascended from the village depths. They all converged toward the hinterlands.

Time meandered along, as if reluctant to pass, until it appeared as though the entire village had returned from the beyond. Save for their pallid complexions, they now bore the semblance of ordinary folk.

Clad in burial attire, they moved at a deliberate pace, each retracing their path to their own home. It was their curse; even in death, they remained bound by it, transforming into malevolent revenants.

The village, it seemed, had settled back into its former peace.

*

*

In the forbidden land, a rising sense of panic gripped them, leaving them uncertain about their next steps.

An Xing Yu and Lin Chu were acutely aware of the necessity of performing the ancestral rites, yet without the guidance of the villagers, they found themselves in the dark. They could only speculate: Were there specific items required for the ceremony?

Moreover, the enigmatic words of Yan Guang Yao perplexed them further.

Beneath their feet, the ground trembled incessantly, devoid of any discernible pattern or rhythm. The relentless quakes made it a challenge to maintain their balance, and even the tombstones teetered precariously.

The darkness around them deepened, night had completely fallen, but the remaining four inside the forbidden area, apart from checking their watches, had lost all sense of time passing. Looking up, they couldn't see any stars or the moon; looking down, it was pitch-black earth and eerie tombstones. Even their own shadows couldn't be seen by others.

Lin Chu was still moving upwards, documenting tombstones along the way.

An Xing Yu shared the same sense of panic that had gripped Luo Ying, who remained fixated on the painting.

"We should head back to the village," Luo Ying muttered to herself, her thoughts wandering. "I may not fully understand your dedication to ancestor worship, but if it's that crucial... Once the ceremony is done, you must return with me. We need to investigate Zhang Bo's house..."

Her true motive was to uncover the village's hidden treasure.

An Xing Yu replied earnestly, "If we go back, 'she''ll be there."

The prospect of encountering the sinister child, who was, in reality, a malevolent ghost lurking in the village, left Luo Ying feeling apprehensive and uncertain about their course of action.

"Is there any way we can force her to leave the village?" Luo Ying asked, her hope tinged with doubt. It was evident to her that, for some inexplicable reason, the ghost remained trapped within.

"I don't know," An Xing Yu admitted.

Their missions always unfolded in this perplexing manner. As they neared their conclusion, the rules became increasingly bizarre and inscrutable, making it challenging to find any semblance of logic. This time, it seemed the rules had undergone yet another transformation, possibly due to the discovery of the treasure map. They had ventured into the forbidden territory without any villagers to guide them, exacerbating their confusion.

An Xing Yu pondered, "What's the purpose of that treasure? Do we really need to return to the village?" What he truly meant was whether they could continue their exploration of the tombs.

Luo Ying replied, “Yes, the graveyard is too risky. Even with the map we have now, we can’t be sure we’ll be safe.”

Thus, despite the knowledge that the ancient tomb might still hold further treasures, they had no choice but to await the arrival of their companions.

But then, Luo Ying’s role would be small, and would the gods even notice her? She felt a bit restless but had no other option.

Unbeknownst to her, on the other side, Lu Yan grappled with similar thoughts.

He had discerned that the little girl was not Li Li.

Li Li had sported shorter hair, always neatly braided. So, despite the striking resemblance between the little girl and Li Li, including their matching attire, he could distinguish the distinction.

Recalling Li Li's words, "Let Auntie borrow my clothes," Lu Yan dared to make a bold conjecture.

Beneath the cloak of the inky night, what eluded his notice was the eerie and bone-chilling aura oozing from the freshly unearthed grave he had just revealed. Slowly, it seeped into the nearby soil.

In due time, the supple earth began to stir.

A pale, clearly male hand came out of the soil, rising slowly from below.

The earth shifted, revealing a human shape, which then got up, shaking off chunks of dirt that showed a white face.

Unbeknownst to the other four individuals, each lost in contemplation of their present dilemma, pondering the means to navigate their predicament within the forbidden territory, an evil spirit had indeed reawakened nearby.

Lu Yan hastened his stride. Once his suspicions were confirmed, he ascended the hill, with the expectation that An Xing Yu, Luo Ying, and Lin Chu would follow suit in due course.

He eagerly anticipated their reunion.

The first person he encountered was Lin Chu.

Having grown accustomed to a life shrouded in perpetual darkness due to past harrowing experiences, Lu Yan discerned Lin Chu's silhouette in the darkness and gently patted her shoulder. She jumped, momentarily startled, but soon regained her composure upon recognizing Lu Yan's voice.

Without much ado, they cut to the chase.

Lin Chu inquired, "Have you inspected these tombstones? I took a closer look and stumbled upon something intriguing."

Lu Yan responded with curiosity, "What's so intriguing?" He felt a danger in the back hills and hadn’t explored the forbidden area fully, so he didn’t know what Lin Chu had found.

In the dimness, Lin Chu gestured toward the graves. "These here are only half of them. The other half lies on the opposite side. Moreover, all these tombstones are identical, except for the birth and death years. The tombstones are all the same," Lin Chu marveled, struggling to grasp the reality of it. "I mean, not just the names, but the spaces between them too. And the birth and death dates, they're all exactly sixty years apart."

Lu Yan's voice held astonishment. "Are you implying..."

Did this eerie symmetry among the tombstones also imply identical occupants within?

Sixty years...

His mind raced back to Yan Guang Yao's words, the sixty-year cycle, and he shared this revelation with Lin Chu.

"Reincarnation..." Lin Chu murmured, her head bowed in deep thought.

Their conversation continued as they ascended the hill.

The air chilled further, but they had grown accustomed to it, standing in the numbing cold.

Not far ahead, a final circle of tombstones encircled the burial mound.

Lu Yan pointed ahead. "Did you saw that hole/cave as you crossed to the other side?"

"I did. It's identical, even in size," Lin Chu affirmed.

Lu Yan suddenly drew a parallel. "It's like those Pisces jade pendants, isn't it?"

Lu Yan found himself wrestling with mixed emotions concerning the jade pendant.

If Luo Ying's claims held true, the Pisces jade pendant didn't duplicate, but rather had the power to transport one's future self to the past.

Zhang Hui Xuan had murdered his future self right at the village entrance. Lu Yan couldn't fathom how distant this future self existed. If they failed in their mission, would he, at some point in the future, be yanked back to the past and meet the same fate?

Xie Zi Qing's unexpected demise inclined him to suspect Zhang Hui Xuan's involvement. He decided to share this suspicion with Lin Chu, ensuring she remained vigilant.

Lin Chu delved into contemplation.

Time was slipping through their fingers.

Suddenly, faint voices resonated from nearby.

Lu Yan swiftly identified the speaker – it was Luo Ying.

With an air of jubilation, Luo Ying updated An Xing Yu, "Our reinforcements have arrived, stationed right at the village entrance."

An Xing Yu asked, "Should we invite them to the forbidden area?"

Luo Ying countered with a shake of her head, "No, they're... Well, they'll come to the village for the treasure."

Treasure. An Xing Yu tightened his grip on the Pisces jade pendant concealed in his pocket, carefully wrapping it in a fragment of cloth torn from his trousers, just in case it decided to duplicate himself.

Could this object also be part of the treasure?

Should he surrender it?

As he mulled over his options, a sharp, cold wind swept through the surroundings. An Xing Yu looked up, and in the distance, he could faintly make out two hazy figures. Without delay, he reached out and tugged at Luo Ying's sleeve, signaling her to pay attention.

Luo Ying, too, spotted the figures, and their caution escalated.

Who could it be?

Who else had ventured into the forbidden area?

An Xing Yu contemplated, wondering if one of them could be Lin Chu. But what about the other?

They refrained from making any noise and decelerated their pace to avoid detection. However, as time passed, An Xing Yu couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss behind them.

Simultaneously, Lu Yan shifted his gaze downward. His keen eyesight revealed distinct figures below, but there was a twist in the tale - three figures?

Who could the mysterious third person be?

"Move aside!" An Xing Yu's shout pierced the air, forcefully pushing Luo Ying out of harm's way as he agilely evaded himself.

What lurked behind them was a corpse, grotesquely transformed. But wasn't it said that revenants couldn't manifest within this forbidden domain? Why then this anomaly?

An Xing Yu had no time to ponder these perplexities; his cry immediately alerted Lin Chu above. "Did you hear that? An Xing Yu's voice – is he in trouble?"

Lu Yan's gaze settled firmly upon the gruesome visage of that corpse, a revelation that left him dumbfounded.

It was an undeniable mirror image of himself!

An Xing Yu sprinted upward, all while Lin Chu's voice urged him to hasten.

"I never thought revenants could appear here," Lin Chu commented, undeterred by the risk of exposing herself. She turned to Lu Yan and added, "I can't see it clearly, but the way that corpse is pursuing us reminds me of the cat-faced old lady I encountered once."

Lu Yan's emotions churned with complexity. His brow furrowed abruptly. "Have you noticed the trembling? It seems to be slowing down," he remarked.

"Did you?" Lin Chu paused to sense the vibrations, scanning her surroundings in an attempt to make a comparison. However, her efforts proved futile. Yet, as soon as Lu Yan brought it up, she indeed felt the change.

"Could this mean the anomaly is subsiding?" Lin Chu's optimism shone through. "But why does it feel like it's getting colder? It's quite peculiar."

Lu Yan, too, sensed the encroaching chill.

An Xing Yu, determined not to burden others, led the transformed revenant downward, hoping to lose it amidst the intricacies of the forbidden area. However, he was astounded as he ventured deeper—the palpitations within him grew stronger, as if his heart might burst from his chest.

Intuition warned him that he couldn't proceed any farther.

Or else, he would meet certain death!

Just then, the ground's tremors abruptly ceased.

All four of them swayed momentarily before regaining their footing.

Subsequently, a faint light began to grace the horizon, a sliver of daylight piercing through the chaotic darkness.

In the dim glow, all four of them gradually widened their eyes.

Where the bloody hell were they?!

Beneath their feet, the forbidden area persisted, surrounded by undulating hills, but the landscape had undergone a bewildering transformation. It was as if they, along with the very ground they stood on, had been transported by some magical force. The colossal forbidden area now lay ensconced within the encircling mountains.

An Xing Yu's intuition had proved uncannily accurate.

On a neighboring peak, not too distant from the forbidden zone, along a serpentine mountain trail, the deceased villagers stood in eerie silence. Should he continue down this path, he'd collide headlong into them.

One after another, their visages so ravaged that their identities were nearly indecipherable, the bodies adorned in the villagers' attire formed an eerie, unbroken line along the mountain road.

What in blazes was this place? How had the villagers' corpses all ended up here?

An Xing Yu and the others, in unison, made this spine-chilling discovery, and they collectively gasped in shock.

Simultaneously, An Xing Yu swiveled around, locking eyes with the cadaver not far behind him. Despite the pallor of its lifeless gaze and the faint traces of decay on its visage, still bearing remnants of mud, An Xing Yu could readily identify it from the clothing and its somewhat familiar features—it was Lu Yan.

Lin Chu prodded her companion with a questioning look, her words barely more than a whisper, "How do we even begin to explain this to An Xing Yu?" Two Lu Yans, one of them dead.

As for Luo Ying, she believed the other party had no intention of engaging with her.

Lu Yan shook his head, "First, we need to figure out what to do now."

With a swarm of revenants encircling them, escaping seemed impossible.

Lu Yan's eyes darted toward the concealed thieves' tunnel.

Coincidentally, Lin Chu entertained the same notion.

Luo Ying had inched closer, and An Xing Yu trailed behind, breathless from his sprint. In the distance, an unending horde of revenants awaited.

The noxious, frigid odor wafted towards them.

Lin Chu's resolve solidified. "There's no room for hesitation here. We've hit a dead end above ground. Our best shot is to explore the depths and seek any clues related to the ancestral ritual," she declared, her voice determined, a hint of audacity in her smile. "It's just a curse, right? Little bit of fur and claws. What's there to fear?"

From her waist pouch, she extracted a slender rope, securing one end to the tunnel's edge. With gloved hands, she grasped the rope and initiated her descent. "I'll go first, and you all follow suit."

Lu Yan sighed and signaled to Luo Ying, urging him to follow. With no time for deliberation, Luo Ying seized the rope and descended. Observing his descent, Lu Yan motioned for An Xing Yu to return his jade pendant to him.

As their eyes met, An Xing Yu nodded sleepily and handed over the jade pendant.

Lu Yan carefully set the two jade pendants side by side, securing them within a piece of cloth. "You go down first; I've got your back."

A malevolent ghost drew perilously near, now just a mere ten meters away.

An Xing Yu wasted no time on niceties. He seized the rope and leaped into the abyss, with Lu Yan stealing a final glance at the malevolent spirit that bore an uncanny resemblance before joining him.

The first sensation that enveloped them was absolute darkness and a bone-chilling dampness that seeped into their very bones.

They'd been descending for what felt like an eternity, and there was still no inkling of reaching the bottom. The depths of this tomb remained a mystery, shrouded in uncertainty.

Then, abruptly, the sole beam of light from above was swallowed by darkness.

Lu Yan glanced up and found a face mirroring his own at the cave entrance.

From its chest, a tiny snake slithered forth, hissing and then coiling around the figure's neck.

Contemplating the village chief's mother and Mrs. Li, Lu Yan sensed he grasped the reason behind his body turning into a revenant.

The revenant stood at the cave's entrance, neither hinting at a leap inside nor planning to leave.

Luo Ying called up from below, "Have you reached the bottom yet?"

To which Lin Chu replied, "I'm not certain, but it feels like there's more to descend."

Moments later, Lin Chu exclaimed, "Oh dear, we've exhausted the rope."

Lu Yan offered, "I still have some here; catch it and secure a knot."

He unwound the rope with one hand and extracted a coiled metal one from his pocket. After unraveling it, he lowered it down with care.

An Xing Yu and Luo Ying assisted in passing it along, and once Lin Chu had a firm grip on the rope below, she continued her descent.

"Ah, by the way," Lin Chu remarked, "this seems a bit unnecessary... I just touched the ground."

Had she known, she might have simply leaped down, couldn't she have?

Regardless of the circumstances, their arrival was a relief. Lin Chu shifted aside and activated her flashlight. Silently, Luo Ying descended alongside her, followed by An Xing Yu and Lu Yan.

With everyone gathered below, Lin Chu aimed her flashlight upward, illuminating the figure at the entrance.

"Lu Yan, you have a stalker," Lin Chu declared with a touch of dark humor.

Her attempt at levity fell flat among her companions. Lin Chu shrugged, then surveyed their surroundings.

It was an expanse of emptiness, the ground beneath soft and damp. Regardless of the direction their flashlights probed, the darkness seemed to swallow the beams, rendering the distant reaches inscrutable.

Beneath the cloak of darkness, a damp chill permeated the air, accompanied by an ancient, weathered scent wafting from an indeterminate source.

Yet, they encountered no immediate abnormalities.

"So, which way should we proceed?" Lin Chu had brought a plethora of supplies. She shivered as she retrieved a compass, only to find the needle spinning wildly, rendering it utterly useless. She voiced her quandary.

The others exchanged uncertain glances, equally incapable of reaching a decision.

Lu Yan suddenly interjected, "Luo Ying, unfurl the scroll."

Since it was, after all, a treasure map, it might contain valuable clues.

Prompted by his reminder, Luo Ying promptly spread out the scroll.

The depiction of immortals riding upon clouds and mists still adorned it. In the midst of the darkness, it seemed to exude an altered aura.

"Wait a moment, Lin Chu, try turning off the flashlight," An Xing Yu suggested.

He happened to be standing on the back of the scroll, and during the earlier flicker of light, he believed to have glimpsed different lines etched upon it.

Lin Chu clicked off the flashlight and Luo Ying unfurled the scroll.

The cave entrance remained utterly shrouded in darkness, obstructed by the dead body. Drawing closer, the quartet huddled together, and gradually, faint fluorescent lines emerged on the reverse side of the scroll.

"Oho.." Lin Chu gasped.

The lines became clearer and made a picture in the dark.

It was yet another map!

The village chief had displayed it in the room for days, never suspecting hidden markings on the scroll's back. Yan Guang Yao, on the other hand, had shown keen interest in the artwork, yet he had assumed his position only recently and had gleaned only a few hints from the village chief, suggesting it might be an ancestral treasure map.

All four of them stared, unblinking.

The glow showed an underground layout, centered around the theft hole, forming the character "甲" (jiǎ). To the east lay the main burial chamber, flanked by expansive sacrificial burial areas, smaller tomb chambers scattered along the path, a chariot and horse burial site, and more.

In contrast, the westward route led to an extended burial passage, with a notation on the map: "Unexplored Area."

"Now, where should we go?"

This question, though seemingly redundant given their prior exploration of the east, magnified the looming uncertainty of the uncharted west.

They copied every detail of the map again, making sure they didn’t miss anything. Lin Chu turned on the flashlight again, and they decided where to go. They walked slowly to the east.

As they advanced, the corpse at the cave's entrance stirred to life. It tumbled, crashing heavily to the earth, followed by a resounding thud.

Lin Chu, leading the way, turned to the group. "Did anyone else hear that?"

Moments earlier, a distinct "thud" had echoed from behind them, but no source was visible.

Her companions had indeed heard it too. However, upon glancing back, they found nothing amiss, prompting them to resume their forward march.

Luo Ying occupied the second spot, trailed by An Xing Yu, with Lu Yan guarding the rear.

Lu Yan's gaze slid to the map behind Luo Ying. He lowered his eyes, veiling the latent malice in his eyes.

Unbeknownst to him, Luo Ying had concealed certain capabilities within the Pisces Jade Pendant.

When an item was copied, the original item drew the copy to itself by a natural force. The force grew stronger as they came closer. In the first trial, the copied white mice followed the original white mice by instinct, and they struggled more to escape the cage when they were near. When they were far away, the copies quieted down.

Lu Yan’s worry came from the fear of his body being taken by Zhang Hui Xuan, so he asked An Xing Yu to bring him to the forbidden land. But he lacked some information, and when his body changed and felt the pull from him because they were close, it caused trouble.

At present, that very entity was drawing nearer, unbeknownst to Lu Yan.

None among them know the true nature of their surroundings. The treasure map outlined two identical routes, omitting any differences. Thus, they advanced cautiously, overlooking a crucial detail—the terrain had undergone a dramatic shift, turning left to right. Consequently, they were unwittingly venturing into the uncharted western recesses of the burial chamber.