Chapter 57
I immediately picked up Little Brother. Fatty already had a reaction to the poison gas, coughing so hard that blood spurted out of his nose. We didn't care about this at all and rushed all the way to the hole. Fatty stopped again, still not daring to enter.
At the same time, I saw that the place where the dragon mouth was originally carved in the cave was also releasing the fog. There was already a layer falling slowly from the top of the cave, like smoke from h.e.l.l.
"Dead, dead, dead." Fatty was so anxious that he leapt to his feet. "s.h.i.+t, Mr. Naïve, f.u.c.king shoot me in the head. I don't want to be a ghost."
"Who will kill me when you die?" I scolded. Fatty said, "It's okay. You can just shoot yourself in the mouth. Don't worry, there won't be any pain."
"How would you know?" I cried, "Why do you always look to me for such things?"
"I'm a f.u.c.king Christian and can't commit suicide."
"When did you believe in Christ?" I asked. Fatty said, "I prayed to G.o.d just now."
I looked at the countless hexagonal bells in front of me and said to Fatty, "Take a shot, maybe there's still a chance. There's no doubt that you'll die here, and dying crazy without any pain at the hands of the bells is better than rotting alive."
Fatty gritted his teeth and immediately went forward with me following closely behind. The two of us began to walk carefully towards the front of the wooden bridge.
The situation was very chaotic but Fatty was even calmer than me. He quickly bypa.s.sed several silk threads without setting off a bell. I followed, copying his actions and unexpectedly also made it around. At that moment, I felt that my actions were smooth and flowing, and I had a little false confidence that we could get through this.
Maybe Fatty was really blessed once he believed in Christ. We've had all kinds of bad luck the entire way here so was all our good luck meant for this moment? G.o.d was so wise, hallelujah amitabha, I will definitely repay you!
Just then, Fatty let out an exclamation as his whole body slipped off the wooden bridge. He managed to control himself, but his hand still touched a silk thread. I saw a very slight vibration starting to drive up the thread, and the nearest bell was already shaking.
In an instant, I saw Little Brother's hand reaching out from beside my head. Two long fingers gripped the bell with great speed and stability.
The silk thread instantly stabilized but I could still feel myself covered in a cold sweat. Little Brother let go slowly and whispered, "Go on, don't stop."
"Brother, are you in a coma or something?" Fatty said, "I'm under too much pressure. If you have nothing to do, you can take the lead. We really can't handle it."
But Poker-Face didn't respond and Fatty cursed. I said, "Go on!"
Fatty scolded: "Go on my a.s.s. Look ahead and see what's going on."
I looked around Fatty's head and saw that the silk thread in front of him was set up in a very complicated net. With Fatty's body shape, it required extremely exaggerated body control to pa.s.s through the gap in the middle.
"Believe in yourself, you can do it!" I encouraged him. Fatty suddenly spread out his hands, made a move like a crane spreading its wings, and shouted, "Eyah!" He then suddenly rushed forward, jumped up, unexpectedly pushed through the biggest gap in the middle of the net, and then fell into the water.
I was dumbfounded.
Fatty touched the water on his face and said to me, "Believe in yourself, you can do it!"
I looked at him and suddenly felt like a failure. d.a.m.n it, this Fatty really had hidden skills. Although usually unreliable, he didn't drop the ball at critical moments. But how could I do this? Even if I didn't carry Little Brother, I wouldn't be able to jump over it.
Sure enough, being fat or not wasn't the standard to judge any problem. I stood in front of the net for a long time before Fatty looked above his head and said urgently, "Hurry up, the fog is coming down."
I looked up and saw that the fog was still about six or seven meters above us. Fatty had covered his mouth and I also felt the intense burning begin to rush down my nasal cavity.
"Take Little Brother first." I told him, suddenly calming down. I brought Little Brother down from my
His weight and my nervousness made me sweat a lot. When I finally pa.s.sed him off and Fatty put him on his shoulder, I said, "The route ahead is easy, you go first."
"What about you?" Fatty asked.
I made a move like a crane spreading its wings and said, "I don't have any confidence in this stuff. Don't worry about it. The road ahead is easier, so hurry up and leave first. Leave me alone and I'll go over there when you've left."
When I said this, I didn't feel brave at all. I just felt that this was the most cost-effective way to do it.
Fatty patted me and gave me a look, but still didn't move. I said to him, "What the f.u.c.k are you waiting for? A good-bye kiss? Go!" Fatty turned to leave.
I squatted down and watched his flashlight flicker in front of me. Fatty's skill was really quite good and he actually didn't touch anything. He soon disappeared at the distant exit, but he paused at the last moment and said to me, "We're going straight ahead, don't you hesitate. If you don't catch up in 20 minutes, I'll burn paper for you."
"f.u.c.k you!" I had hardly finished speaking when Fatty's flashlight swung deep into the pa.s.sage, leaving no shadow.
I looked above my head, and now I was truly alone. It was quiet all around and the fog was still falling, but the speed seemed to be getting slower and slower. This was a good thing, but the severe burning pain in my nasal cavity almost made me unable to breathe. I clapped my hands and said to myself, "Let's go."
I was about to jump when I heard a voice coming from the corner of the cave. I paused. It was a man's groan. I turned the flashlight back and forth, but found that I couldn't see where he was. This cave was too big and full of silk thread, and the flashlight wasn't strong enough to find the edge.
It's over. I've been poisoned. Could this poisonous gas produce auditory hallucinations? Suddenly I heard another sound. I coughed a few times and found that there was already blood in my saliva, so I bent down. Suddenly, the cave wall also lit up with a flashlight.
I turned my head and looked at it carefully. The flashlight there was dim and a voice cried, "Little Master Three!"
"Pan Zi!" I was surprised, but couldn't lean over to see. The other said, "Little Master Three, hurry up." The sound was quite weak and then I heard a series of coughs.
"How are you?" I asked, "Why are you here?"
Pan Zi said in the dark, "It's a long story, Little Master Three. Do you have a cigarette?"
"You still want to smoke here, aren't you afraid of your lungs burning through?" I listened to Pan Zi's tone and felt that he was particularly calm. Suddenly, I had a very bad feeling.
"Ha, ha, ha, it doesn't matter." Pan Zi said, "You can't see what I'm like now."
The sense of foreboding in my heart grew even worse. I said, "Don't dawdle, hurry up and come here. I'll come help you if you don't come." As I said this, I used my flashlight and could vaguely make out his figure. I realized why I couldn't see him before.
Pan Zi seemed to be stuck in the rock. I expanded the light's aperture and immediately saw his body melted into the rock strata, barely a shadow of a person now.
Pan Zi's cough sounded and I sat on the ground and asked, "What's going on? Where are Xiao Hua and the others?"
"Master Hua should be fine, everyone else is dead. That thing was too powerful. I was here when I woke up." Pan Zi said.
"Wait for me, I'll come and help you break it."
"Don't come here." Pan Zi said, "Little Master Three, you don't know what my body in the stone looks like now. You can't save me even if you come here, it's too dangerous. Little Master Three, do you have any cigarettes? Give me a cigarette first, and I'll tell you a few things."
I couldn't see Pan Zi, but I suddenly felt as if all my strength was gone, and I realized what kind of atmosphere this was.
I had never experienced such an atmosphere before, but I knew.
"Little Master, smoke!" Pan Zi cried weakly, "I don't have time."
I took out a cigarette and lighter and asked Pan Zi, "Where are you?"
The flashlight over there lit up. I found a s.p.a.ce with less silk thread and threw the cigarette and lighter over. I didn't know if Pan Zi had received them, but I heard him calling out, "Little Master Three, can't I rely on you once? Couldn't you light the cigarette for me first?"
My mind was blank and I couldn't say anything. Pan Zi said, "Little Master Three, never mind, don't light it. Do you have a gun on your back?"
"Yes!" I said.
"Give me the gun." Pan Zi said, "I have to end it myself. You go. If I had the time, I would've liked to talk to you for a while. But you don't have time and you also don't have any time to pity me. If you wait any longer, you'll be like me, so go. If you can get out, remember to find someone to search the whole back of the mountain. When Master Hua gets out, he'll probably be there."
When I threw the gun over, I heard Pan Zi's laughter: "Come on, Little Master Three, you good guy. I never thought I'd get this kind of gun before I died. It won't necessarily kill me even if I hit my skull."
When I stood up, I heard a gunshot, and Pan Zi laughed: "Let's go, Little Master Three."
"Don't rush me, the path ahead isn't so easy either. If I die later, we can still keep each other company on the road to the underworld."
"Little Master Three, with Pan Zi here, can you still suffer?" Then, I heard the sound of a bolt pulling, "I don't have the strength to say anything else so I'll escort you one last time. I'm going to see Master Three. Be smart, and give us a good account."
"What do you mean to do?" I asked him. Pan Zi said, "Go, Little Master Three. Go forward boldly. Go forward and don't look back." Pan Zi began to sing as he spoke.
I leaned forward cautiously, feeling an indescribable sadness in my heart. I had only taken one step forward when a silk thread suddenly touched the back of my head. I was shocked, thinking that I was dead. In an instant, I heard a gunshot and the copper bell on the silk thread shattered.
"Boldly move forward!" Pan Zi laughed.
As I continued to walk forward, tears suddenly flowed down my face and I couldn't see the path ahead clearly. As I walked step by step, I heard gunfire ringing behind me.
"The high road to heaven,
Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine wow.
Sister, go boldly forward, go forward, don't look back.
From then on, you build that red embroidered house.
Scatter that red hydrangea,
Hit me on the head, drink a pot with you,
Red sorghum wine, red sorghum wine hey!" (TN Note: This is a song called 'Sister Go Boldly Forward' from the popular Chinese movie 'The Red Sorghum').
I finally reached the end of the wooden bridge and walked into the pa.s.sage.
The fog had gradually enveloped the whole cave and I could hardly breathe. I rushed forward and suddenly heard a gunshot behind me, and Pan Zi's voice disappeared.
My tears kept flowing down as I ran all the way forward. Another staircase appeared in front me leading to the water. I jumped, and by the time I came back up, I was already in that toxic gas cave full of pools. Fatty pulled me up and said, "Yes! I've been chanting death mantras for you. I didn't think you were still alive."
"Keep chanting." I told him.
There was a hole on the side of the cave wall and we rushed in, finally returning to the familiar pa.s.sage. I don't know what drove us at that time, but we felt very scared and terrified. I didn't know where the strength came from, but I ran all the way down. Finally, I saw a light in front of me, and then we rushed out.
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TN Note: Wahhhhhhhhhhhh PAN ZI!!!!!!!! I'm not crying, you're crying?