Chapter 187

Main Text Chapter 189 Concealment

In the silent, deep-recessed Hall of Samsara, I held my breath, peering from behind a pillar at the black iron door's movements; from the gaping door, an arm emerged, and in the moonlight I could clearly see its arm covered in white fur, sharp nails glinting faintly; the arm had just extended halfway when it suddenly stopped, fingers splayed, gripping the stone floor as if also probing outside.

I thought, Oh no, we've truly run into a zombie this time, and a white-haired one at that, but aside from the flashlight I had nothing else; still, the zombie's fingers probably wouldn't bend, and the lama said the black iron door beneath the Samsara Hall signifies where the most heinous sinners are cast into hell, so whatever crawls out, even if not a zombie, is certainly no easy prey.

I saw Pangzi also pressed tightly against the pillar, not daring to breathe, sweat beading his forehead; I didn't know then that he was holding his urine, thinking he was as overwrought with nerves as Adong, so I gave Pangzi a subtle gesture to lower the visor on his cap, lest we expose our breath and be detected by whatever lay beyond the door.

I too pulled down the thermal visor on my mountaineering cap, like wearing a large mask; thus even a zombie would not easily spot us, and we now waited silently, observing, for the right moment to flee.

At this time the thin drifting clouds in the sky had passed, the moonlight grew brighter, and I saw something crawl from the door, humanoid in shape, naked, its entire body covered in fine white fur, denser and longer than human body hair but not as thick as a beast's pelt; though the moon shone bright, I could not make out its face.

I hid behind the pillar, suddenly feeling a chill run through me, growing nervous, but I then realized that the thing crawling from the iron door should not be a zombie; I saw its eyes gleaming, bright as torches, and though I had never seen a zombie, hearsay said their eyes were mere ornaments, unable to see, whereas this creature's eyes flashed like lightning in the dark… just what is it?

Afraid of being discovered, I dared not peek further, shrinking behind the pillar, listening quietly to the hall's sounds, pressing my ear to the pillar, I heard only a faint patter of footsteps on the ground—the man-like, zombie-like, beast-like creature seemed to be pacing around Adong's corpse.

I did not know its intent, only hoping it would leave soon; wherever it went, as long as it departed this Samsara Hall ruin, we could flee immediately, but then I suddenly heard from within the hall a strange, owl-like laugh, harsher than a night cat's wail; if my hands weren't gripping the pillar, I would have clapped them over my ears to block that sound.

Behind the pillar where Pangzi hid, he pointed to his belly and frowned repeatedly at me, meaning this sound was too piercing; if it kept calling, he'd surely lose control and wet himself.

I hastily gestured to Pangzi: absolutely do not urinate. Human urine carries a strong odor; if we let loose, that white-haired monster would instantly detect us. This eerie, owl-like cry truly resembled the sounds zombies are said to make; I do not know what game that thing is playing, so I slowed my breathing and again stole a glance from behind the pillar into the hall.

I saw the white-haired creature now bent over the corpse on the ground, palms pressed down, laughing maniacally, as if it had found some treasure; then it paced once around the hall, went to a large hole in the roof, gazed at the moon, and emitted choked sobs, unclear whether it was weeping or laughing.

Pangzi and I were suffering greatly; we had hung on the pillars for nearly half an hour, our limbs numb and sore, the lanterns on the pillars not very sturdy, so we dared not move lest we dislodge something and be caught barehanded against this white horror, while the creature lingered in the hall without end, leaving us wondering what it truly sought.

Just as this stalemate became unbearable, a sudden event occurred: I saw a large snow spider with mottled markings descending from the roof on silk, the thread swaying, landing right before me, less than half a centimeter away, nearly touching my face.

The snow spider is the most venomous creature on the plateau, basically white; yet this one suddenly appearing before me, though only the size of a fingertip, already bore bright red blotches on its body, red and white distinct, indicating it had lived at least a hundred years; its venom could kill a wild yak in an instant. This snow spider hung from its silk, swayed a few times, then landed squarely on my cap's forehead; at that moment I nearly suffocated, I strained to roll my eyes upward and could see only one of its patterned legs; it seemed to dislike the wool cap, crawling straight toward the space between my eyes; my head exposed only eyes and nose bridge, watching the spider inch toward my face, I had no choice but to first deal with the spider, yet dared not flick it with my hand, lacking gloves and fearing poisoning.

In the emergency, no longer caring about exposing ourselves to the white horror, I lifted my head and lightly bumped my forehead against the pillar—"Crack!"—the insect's shell shattered under the pressure between my brow and the pillar; I used just enough force to crush the spider, then immediately tilted my head, flinging the still-intact carcass aside before its toxins could leak.

But even this faint sound drew the creature's attention inside: a pair of cold-light-flashing eyes shot toward the red-lacquered pillar where I hid, and it began walking toward me, step by step.

I cursed inwardly, Damn it, I've hit bad luck again today; I wanted to ready Pangzi, to draw its attention so he could strike it unexpectedly with a brick from the ground, 【tuai】 but Pangzi behind the other pillar seemed to have fainted, showing no reaction at all.

I gritted my teeth, silently cursing, and had no choice but to repeat the earlier trick: I pried a splinter from a wooden pillar and flicked it at Adong's corpse, hoping to divert the creature's attention.

Worried the sound might be too soft, I deliberately chose a larger wood fragment; this piece struck Adong's face squarely, and in the silent Buddhist hall it rang with a sharp "Pa!"; sure enough, the white-furred creature heard the disturbance, turned alertly, and looked over.

Then the most unexpected thing happened: Adong, who had been frightened to death, suddenly burst into violent coughing, lying on the ground exhaling—turns out he was still alive, merely overwhelmed by fright and the plateau's thin air, unable to catch his breath, he had fainted.

Adong had not stopped breathing long; only a breath had lodged in his windpipe; now though he began breathing again, he remained unconscious, and the creature that had crawled from the door, seeing Adong still alive, flew into a rage, shrieking without cease.

Before I could grasp what it intended, the creature had already lifted a brick and smashed it down hard on Adong's head, like smashing a rotten watermelon; instantly his brains splattered, yet it did not relent, continuing until his skull was completely flattened.

Then it used its claws to nudge Adong's corpse, confirming he was truly dead, shifted from fury to joy, letting out strange laughter, rose, embraced the corpse, tore off the crushed skull, stripped the clothing, put its mouth to the cavity, and gulped the blood, slurping it dry, then sucked marrow and gnawed bone, wasting nothing edible.

From behind the pillar I watched, my whole body going numb; this cannibal sight was too horrific, especially in the deathly silent ruins of the ancient city, hearing the teeth grind bone, the grating sound unceasing; I had once seen a cat catch a mouse and eat it, and the scene before me was exactly the same.

Heaven's doing may be forgiven, man's doing cannot be spared; Adong lusted after that silver-eyed Buddha statue, and had he not done so, he would not have opened that black iron door; though it was self-inflicted, still one feels this retribution came too swift and too cruel.

I suddenly recalled the "Guardian Gods' Hall" passage before the Samsara Temple, where the murals depict hell's torments; among them, a feline-headed beast, near-human in form with a tail, gnawing on sinners' corpses in the black prison; I remembered the lama saying this was the Samsara Sect's guilt-eating Baru, and since the sect has vanished from the world, later ages cannot tell whether this Baru is a fabricated hellish hungry ghost or a real beast reared by religious authorities to punish criminals. (Baru, hungry ghost or sinner)

The hell-torture murals closely resemble what I saw; likely what crawled from the door is the Samsara Sect's so-called "guilt-eating criminal"; we hid on the pillars, which is no solution, our limbs gradually numbing, estimating we cannot hold on much longer before collapsing, but for now we have no plan, only to endure each moment as it comes.

The guilt-eating hungry ghost was chewing Adong's corpse, having eaten half in no time; I saw this as an opportunity: while it was utterly engrossed in feeding, we could sneak away without alerting it.

I was about to signal Pangzi to retreat when the guilt-eating Baru, its back to us, suddenly whipped its head around, snorted fiercely, as if it had smelled some unusual odor, and instantly became alert.

I hastily shrank back, concealing myself; moonlight leaked from the hall's roof, slanting onto Pangzi, his forehead sweat much reduced, he blinked at me repeatedly, as if trying to convey something; I blinked back, asking what he meant—just what had he been feigning death for?

Pangzi dared not make a sound, gave a helpless shrug, lowered his eyes to the base of the pillar; following his gaze, I saw a large wet stain on the red wooden pillar, and I immediately thought in my heart: "Damn it, you really did piss your pants after all!"