Chapter 123: Stone

After that, I forced myself to sleep for half an hour. When He Yu woke up, he moved with large, abrupt movements. The robber tunnel was too cramped, and he had probably twisted something in his sleep, so the moment he woke, he gave a massive stretch, accidentally bumping the flashlight beside his hand.

The sudden light woke me instantly. Looking back, I saw Chen Canghai sit up as well. He seemed to be a light sleeper, waking at the slightest sound. Young-looking with an innocent face, I didn’t particularly care whether he had overheard my earlier conversation with Lu Ayao.

He Yu stuffed his belongings into his pack, looking full of energy and a bit excited. “Well fed and rested,” he said. “How about it? Time to go check out that Corpse Accumulation Ground^[1]?”

The four of us quickly sorted through our few remaining supplies, ultimately stuffing everything into a single bag for He Yu to carry. Then we tore off pieces of rag to cover our noses and mouths.

Lu Ayao had his ring blade for self-defense; it was good quality and would hold up for now. I tucked two Cold Steel knives into my waistband and re-wrapped the gauze on my leg so it wouldn’t give me trouble if we had to run. He Yu had all the guns, and he generously handed a Broomhandle Mauser^[2] to Chen Canghai.

He Yu poked his head out to check the opening, and once he confirmed it was clear, he took the lead and jumped out of the robber tunnel, landing in the water. The three of us moved fast, jumping out right after him. The moment I exited the tunnel, I caught that foul, reeking stench of corpse oil again.

He Yu waved at Lu Ayao, signaling for him to take the lead, while he slipped behind me and patted my shoulder, indicating for me to follow.

The bottom of the passage was even stickier now. Almost every step stuck fast, requiring a huge effort just to pull a foot out. I forced myself not to imagine what kind of things were accumulating underwater as I waded through it, struggling until I made my way behind Lu Ayao.

Lu Ayao was lighter than any of us, so he walked with ease. Given our previous “rear-end collision” back in Gansu, I wasn’t particularly keen on a repeat performance here, so I stopped him before he could even start moving.

I grabbed hold of him. “Walk slower. I don’t want to fall face-first into the water. Well, mostly He Yu, not me.”

“Huh? What are you guys saying?” He Yu rested his hand on my shoulder, struggling to poke his head forward.

Lu Ayao glanced back at me, and I met his eyes with an unwavering gaze. He turned back, gave a silent nod, and stepped forward.

I patted He Yu. “It’s nothing. Just follow along.”

Walking through foul water was completely different from a normal stone path. Even the usually chatterbox He Yu kept his lips tightly pressed, avoiding speaking whenever possible. As we trudged along, the settled corpse oil churned up from the bottom, disgusting beyond belief.

We hadn’t been walking for even ten minutes when a fishy, foul stench drifted into my nostrils. Lu Ayao, up at the front, slowly came to a halt. I knew we must have reached the Corpse Accumulation Ground, so I swallowed hard and moved up to stand beside him.

Following the beam of Lu Ayao’s flashlight, I saw a scene I will never forget for the rest of my life.

It was a small, gentle slope connecting to the waterway. Countless white bones and wet corpses were piled together, covering the entire area. Because they were so ancient, some of the skeletons had actually fused together.

There were enough bodies to fill half a college classroom. The passage was pitch black, and I could only see what the flashlight illuminated. There were likely many more below the waterline, though I couldn’t tell how many.

I stood frozen where I was. Then, Lu Ayao suddenly spoke. “These skeletons… they’re all infants.”

Hearing that made the scene feel truly chilling. I instinctively took two steps back behind him, my body’s natural instincts warning me to stay as far away from these things as possible. He Yu was just as deeply shocked as I was.

“Such a massive scale… how many infants did they have to find? Were they using children for live sacrifices?” He Yu asked, horrified.

I moved my flashlight and noticed that the old water line on the wall years ago was clearly above the slope. This indirectly proved that when the water level was higher, this waterway didn’t exist. All these bodies must have originally been submerged. The moment I reached this conclusion, goosebumps broke out all over me from head to toe.

So much corpse oil had settled in this water, which was why it felt so sticky to walk through.

Did this mean that what we were standing on was actually a mountain of corpses, and this so-called “passage” didn’t actually have a bottom at all?

Had years of water flow simply washed some of the corpses here to form this accumulation ground, while leveling out the rest to serve as the bed of this “waterway”?

The more I thought about it, the more sick to my stomach I felt. Lu Ayao signaled for me to look up at some stones floating near the accumulation ground. I raised my head and was instantly amazed to see stones floating right next to the pile of corpses.

“Heh, strange things happen every year, but this year takes the cake,” He Yu said, stroking his chin in wonder. “Have these stones turned into spirits or something to be floating on the water?”

I slapped his arm. “What are you talking about? Don’t go blabbering superstitious nonsense here. How could a stone turn into a spirit?”

He Yu reached out, pointed at a white stone floating on the water, and put his hands on his hips. “Then what’s your grand opinion? It’s clearly floating right there, we can all see it. But how could a stone float on water? How do you explain that without resorting to the supernatural?”

Of course, there are stones in the world that can float, I thought to myself. I recalled a science program I’d seen as a kid about stones that could drift on water. Apparently, their density is much lower than water. But after thinking for a moment, I realized the stones in front of me couldn’t be that kind.

That kind of floating stone is mostly silica, a special mineral formed when volcanic eruptions cool and solidify. But we were at the Nu River in northwestern Yunnan. I didn’t think there were any volcanoes nearby. Where would volcanic material come from?

Could the Tengchong volcano have erupted so powerfully in the past that it flung minerals all the way to the Nu River? That seemed way too far-fetched.

I hadn’t quite figured it out yet, but He Yu was already rolling up his sleeves.

“Come on, stop overthinking it. Let’s just fish one out and take it back to study. That’ll solve everything!”

As he spoke, he started wading through the water. I rushed to stop him. “Don’t be so damn impulsive! Something feels off about this. If it’s some unknown species, you’re dead meat if you try to grab it.”

“Oh, Xiao Yao, you’re always playing it too safe. That’s why you’re always running in circles without getting anywhere. You can’t see a damn thing from this far away! Just watch me fish one out so you can get a good look at it in your own hands!”

“Shh!” Lu Ayao raised a hand.

We were in the middle of a scuffle, but his sudden gesture made us freeze instantly, clutching each other. Chen Canghai moved swiftly to the front of us, his Mauser C96 already cocked and ready in his hand.

I quickly pulled away from He Yu and crouched down. We all squinted into the distance, where the rock illuminated by Lu Ayao’s flashlight suddenly twitched on its own.

“Holy crap, what’s that supposed to mean? I told you this place was eerie before we even got here. Other places have corpse reanimation, but this place has rock reanimation,” He Yu whispered in my ear.

I told him to shut up and kept watching.

In an instant, the rock split into four or five pieces, transforming into hideous little beetles that scurried into the pile of corpses.

“Damn it!” I heard He Yu curse.

I looked at him. “What’s wrong? Are you actually afraid of bugs?”

Then I realized it wasn’t just him; even Chen Canghai had grown tense. The moment Lu Ayao saw the insect, he switched off his flashlight and pressed himself against the wall, keeping as far away from the distant pile of corpses as possible. He whispered, “Move, now! Don’t disturb those stones!”

Hearing me, He Yu cursed, “I call you a fool because you really are one! Those aren’t just bugs, those are corpse beetles!”