Chapter 103: Inside the Pagoda 1

The hook at the top of the pagoda kept making that hair-raising sound. After some thought, I decided to climb up and take a look, but these five flights of stairs were quite a challenge to navigate with only one good leg. Besides, ever since I had been bound by that mycelium, I felt as though I couldn’t muster any strength in my body.

I gripped the ladder and hauled myself upward. It was pitch black inside the stone pagoda. As I climbed, a faint sound of chanting lingered in my ears, making me wonder if I was hallucinating. The wooden steps beneath my feet let out eerie creaks and groans with every move.

I finally managed to drag myself to the fourth floor when I heard someone squeeze through the stone window on the fifth floor. They landed on the fifth-floor platform with a light, agile jump, yet a layer of dust still shook loose. For me, however, that small amount of dust was negligible.

I shook the dust from my hair, and immediately after, I heard He Yu’s cursing:

“Dammit, who was this window made for? How the hell am I supposed to squeeze through something this small?”

I sensed trouble and lost all desire to rest. I scrambled up the stairs as fast as I could, thinking that if a burly guy like He Yu landed on the fifth-floor platform, it wouldn’t just be dust falling. The entire pagoda would probably shake three times over.

“Old Lu, stand aside, let me squeeze in,” I heard He Yu say.

At the same time, I hurriedly shouted to him, “Wait a second! He, wait until I get up there before you…”

As it turned out, I was a beat too slow. Before I could jump onto the fifth floor, He Yu had already tumbled inside. It sounded like he rolled a few times on the floorboards, causing the fifth floor to bounce up and down for a good while.

I was stuck on the ladder, half my weight leaning on the wooden handrail, while a fresh layer of dust coated my head. I had no idea how many years old these stairs were, but they were deathly brittle. As the fifth floor shook, the stairs trembled along with it.

In that strange dream, the wooden step I had trodden on had collapsed, so I had learned my lesson. This time, I didn’t put my weight on the steps but on the side handrail instead. Just as I was feeling smug about my cleverness, the wooden handrail above me let out a sharp crack.

The sound was terrifying in the absolute silence. I cursed my luck. I couldn’t possibly be this unfortunate, could I? This plot twist was far too bizarre!

Before I could let go, the entire section of the handrail from top to bottom shattered instantly. My sense of balance was non-existent, so I simply started screaming, “Help! Someone help me, I’m falling!”

Lu Ayao had been helping He Yu up on the fifth floor, but hearing the noise, he must have dropped him to rush down and catch me. He was incredibly fast. Without relying on the handrails at all, he reached down in a few strides and grabbed my arm. At that exact moment, the entire section of the handrail broke away and plummeted to the fourth floor.

“Fuck, it really is my young master. How the hell do you need someone to hold you up just to climb a flight of stairs?” He Yu rubbed his head, limping toward the top of the stairs with a flashlight.

When he said that, my temper flared up. Ignoring my trembling legs, I snapped back, “I told you not to rush in! You crawled in faster than a damn rat! You’re the one who shook the stairs until they collapsed!”

“Hey? Look at that temper. Have the two of us been spoiling you too much lately? We’ve only been apart for a few days, and this is how you talk to your Brother Yu?” He Yu made a face at me from above and then called out to Lu Ayao, “Old Lu, let’s leave him here. Let him climb up himself. It’s not like he can fall down anymore anyway.”

My legs went weak at his words. Fearing that Lu Ayao might actually listen to his nonsense, I practically crouched on the stairs, relying entirely on one of Lu Ayao’s hands to stay steady. I quickly grabbed Lu Ayao with both hands and gave him a sheepish grin. Seeing that he had no intention of letting go, I looked past him and shot He Yu a fierce glare.

Then came a long silence. I didn’t dare move an inch, so we stayed in that position for at least a minute or more.

I blinked and looked back, asking the two of them, “What are we supposed to do now?”

He Yu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “What do you think? This ladder is so narrow that you’re blocking the whole path by yourself. How are the two of us supposed to get down?”

Lu Ayao spoke up, “This place was built too long ago. The stairs can’t support all three of us. You’re light, so you need to go down first. I’ll watch over you from behind.”

What did he mean? Did he mean he wanted me to walk down to the fourth floor from this height by myself, without any handrails or protection?

I didn’t want to let go. “Um… are you sure this wood won’t collapse?”

He Yu comforted me, “Don’t worry, the two of us are right behind you. Even if it collapses, we can fish you back up.”

I had nothing left to say, so I let go. I kept my center of gravity as low as possible and limped along, stepping carefully onto the dilapidated wood. Limping with one leg was significantly more exhausting than walking normally, not to mention having to overcome my fear of heights. By the time I reached the fourth floor, cold sweat had soaked through my clothes.

Once the two of them had come down the stairs after me, I finally caught my breath. At the same time, I realized that the continuous chanting had vanished at some point without me noticing.

Setting everything else aside, I was genuinely happy to be reunited with them in such a massive place. They were experts in every sense, far more experienced than I was. Following them meant there were few situations we couldn’t handle.

He Yu cast a quick glance over the Buddha statues on all sides. I noticed he didn’t seem particularly interested in these solid gold figures, which was somewhat out of character for him.

Before I could ask, Lu Ayao said, “Let’s head down to the first floor first.”

He Yu and I both agreed. The ladder here was narrow and shook violently. Fearing we might break it if we moved together, we went down one by one. With their help, the pace was much faster, and we reached the bottom in less than ten minutes.

As soon as we got down, I remembered Tian Xiaoqi. I quickly pulled Lu Ayao over and gave him a brief explanation of our bizarre encounter. Ignoring me, he pulled a canteen from his waist, unscrewed the cap, and squatted down. He propped up Tian Xiaoqi’s chin with one hand and began pouring water into her mouth.

I asked in confusion, “Just water? Are you sure she hasn’t been possessed? Don’t we need to perform a ritual or write a talisman or something?”

Lu Ayao gave Tian Xiaoqi a sip of water, then looked up and stared at me in silence, likely rendered speechless by my suggestion.

“This is where your mindset falls short. And to think you’re the only university student among us. How can you save someone without using science?” He Yu hooked an arm around my shoulder.

“The mycelium that bound you has tiny, hallucinogenic fuzz on it. Once you’re entangled, it’s very easy to start seeing things.”

“So feeding her water makes the hallucinations go away?” I asked.

He Yu wagged a finger in front of my eyes. “No, no, no. This isn’t ordinary water. This is water from the drainage system of this underground palace, found in another cave near those black stones. We got caught by that stuff too, but when we were in the water, we found that the fuzz on the mycelium automatically softens and falls off when it touches that water.”

As he spoke, Lu Ayao suddenly gripped one of Tian Xiaoqi’s shoulders and clamped his hand around her neck. It happened so fast I didn’t see it clearly, but Tian Xiaoqi suddenly vomited water and several hair-like strands of mycelium out of her windpipe.

“There was mycelium clinging inside her windpipe. She could only cough it out after drinking the water. Otherwise, those things would stay inside until the person completely suffocated. Then they’d use the human body as a petri dish to keep growing,” Lu Ayao said.

His words made my own throat start to feel uncomfortable. Just as I was considering whether to ask Divine Physician Lu to check me out too, He Yu suddenly slapped my shoulder:

“Don’t you have something to explain, student Xiao Gan?”

I was puzzled. “Explain what?”

He Yu threw his arm over my shoulder. “The two of us spent a good two or three days looking for you! I wasted so many detonators for your sake, and we even blew up half the cave. We barely escaped with our lives after almost getting sucked into an undercurrent and drowning. Talk about loyalty, right? And what do we get? We worried for damn nothing while you were off here enjoying your own cozy little paradise^[1]!”

I was about to give him a piece of my mind when I caught sight of Lu Ayao suddenly standing up and leaning against a pillar. It had been too dark to see clearly before, but now that the firelight reached them, I realized they were both covered in grime.

He Yu’s head was wounded again. I couldn’t tell if it was an old injury reopening or a new one, and he was covered in various scrapes. I suddenly felt like I was in much better shape than they were. Being alone with Tian Xiaoqi like this would look suspicious to anyone, and I felt a sudden pang of guilt.

My momentum faltered at the thought. “Who… who’s in a cozy nest? You’re the one in a cozy nest! She’s just a young girl, don’t talk nonsense. We met by chance, and it hasn’t even been twenty-four hours since then!”

I then recounted everything: how I lost contact with Chen Canghai, the crawling through tunnels, the battle with the Infant Corpses, and every detail of my hallucinations. I held nothing back. The story was so bizarre and full of twists that they both fell silent once I finished.

I sat on the ground, my throat parched from talking. Seeing their silence, I asked uneasily, “No way… you guys don’t believe me?”

Lu Ayao moved first. He pulled another water bottle from his bag and handed it to me. He Yu followed up, saying, “It’s not that we don’t believe you. We believe everything you said. I just didn’t expect you to actually make it all the way here on your own.”

His words felt strange. Did this guy really think of me as some pampered young master who couldn’t lift a finger? I might be a novice, but I’m definitely not that useless.

I feigned annoyance. “You’re looking down on me, aren’t you? Don’t treat me like a child. Of course I can manage on my own.”

“Oh, you can manage on your own? Then the two of us will leave right now, and you can find your own way out,” He Yu said with a devious smirk.

“If you want to leave, go ahead, but don’t speak for others. Lu Ayao, you wouldn’t leave, would you?” I turned to look at Lu Ayao.

He didn’t respond, but the corner of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly. I pretended not to notice and took it as his silent agreement.

He Yu chuckled, but his smile vanished quickly. I looked back and saw that Tian Xiaoqi was showing signs of waking up. Before I could say a word, He Yu drew the combat knife tucked into his waistband, walked over, and pressed the blade against her throat.

“He Yu, put the knife down! What are you doing?” I cried out in shock, then turned to look at Lu Ayao.

Lu Ayao remained by the pillar. He glanced at He Yu but clearly had no intention of interfering. He didn’t say a word, simply standing in front of me and watching coldly as Tian Xiaoqi slowly regained consciousness.

With the knife still held in place, He Yu said, “Gan Ji, she’s no innocent little girl. This woman’s motives have been suspicious since we first entered the cave. Now she’s somehow managed to reunite with you ahead of us. This underground palace is massive, and even with our walkie-talkies, we almost missed you. Yet she managed to show up exactly at the mouth of the well. Have you never stopped to think that there are no such coincidences in this world?”