Chapter 44: Main text Chapter 44: Encountering Evil

Main text Chapter 44: Encountering Evil

Encountering Evil

Professor Chen's voice became extremely sharp and piercing; the tomb chamber was already narrow, making his voice sound unusually grim and strange. I, Pangzi, and the three of us were filled with doubt—even if the professor had gone mad, that would be forgivable, but how did his voice suddenly change?

I kept shaking Professor Chen's shoulders, hoping to snap him awake, but his shouts grew louder and louder as he waved his arms, crying, "Don't go out, don't go out!" While shouting, he desperately grabbed and pulled at my arm.

I worried that Professor Chen's mad actions might endanger everyone's safety, so I called Pangzi over to help, and together we pressed him to the ground.

Shirley Yang feared we might hurt the professor, so she rushed over to stop him, but when Professor Chen saw her approach, he suddenly reached out, snatched the ancient goatskin scroll from her hand, tore off the last page, and immediately bit into it.

That goatskin, thousands of years old, was naturally too tough to bite, but Professor Chen paid no heed, merely stuffing it into his mouth and chewing frantically without stopping.

Since being stimulated on the stone bridge, Professor Chen has become utterly foolish and stupid; how could he suddenly become so hysterical? A person whose nerves have snapped cannot possibly still be under the illusion of the konjac flower, so could he be possessed by an evil spirit? Is he trying to stop us from fleeing this place?

Pangzi pulled the ancient goatskin from the professor's mouth; the goatskin was fine, but the professor's mouth was already full of blood. To be safe, we had no choice but to temporarily tie him up.

I was most concerned whether the last page of the goatskin scroll had been damaged; if there was a way to escape alive, it would surely be on that last page, but if Professor Chen had chewed it up, that would be troublesome.

The last page of the goatskin scroll was stained with much of Professor Chen's saliva and blood from his gums, yet it contained no patterns or symbols at all—it was completely blank.

I said to Shirley Yang, "Oh no, the prophet's prophecy has been licked away by Old Master Chen."

Shirley Yang replied, "Don't worry, the last page of the prophet's goatskin scroll originally contained nothing at all."

I regretted my earlier panic; I don't know what's wrong today—everything's going awry, leaving me restless and unable to calm down, and I constantly feel that something is off in this tomb chamber.

However, the prophet's prophecy is flawless; he naturally would have anticipated what the mad Professor Chen would do, so the last page of the goatskin scroll is blank. It seems every move we make in this stone chamber was already predetermined—further worrying is pointless, so I might as well steel myself and let things take their natural course.

I and Pangzi held Professor Chen between us as we sat down, letting Shirley Yang continue with her previous explanation. Trapped between us, Professor Chen could not move, merely struggling incessantly, but he no longer shouted.

Shirley Yang continued explaining the prophecy in the goatskin scroll: "The prophet foretold that eight hundred years after his death, his tribe, seeking to avoid disaster, had already migrated to a distant east, while Zhagelama Mountain welcomed a new tribe from the western desert. They discovered the Ghost Cave in the mountain, and the tribe's shaman claimed this was the dwelling of a demon god. This tribe became the precursor of the Pure and Absolute Kingdom. The queen of the Pure and Absolute Kingdom grew a pair of ghostly eyes that could see the netherworld; she mastered the ritual using the Jade Eye Ritual Vessel to summon the Black Snake evil spirits, with which she conquered more than ten neighboring kingdoms. These heretics' atrocities enraged the true god, who gave the mountain and its surrounding lands to the devil. The desert swallowed their cities, and all the people, livestock, and the Black Snake evil spirits in the Ghost Cave shall be buried deep underground."

Pangzi grew impatient, could bear it no longer, and urged Shirley Yang to hurry with the rest—leaving this oppressive tomb even a moment sooner would be good.

Shirley Yang said, "Finally comes the revelation for us four who have entered the prophet's tomb chamber… The revelation indicates that four survivors will enter the tomb chamber due to the mountain's collapse, and one of them is a descendant of the Ancestor Sage tribe…"

I exclaimed, "A descendant? Does that mean possessing the bloodline of that ancient tribe? Since it doesn't specify who, I think your chances are greatest; otherwise, how could Pangzi and I never have dreamed of the Ghost Cave? Moreover, you might have inherited some of that tribe's precognitive ability, having already seen the place you are destined to go."

Pangzi also agreed, saying, "That's definitely Miss Yang. Lao Hu and I never noticed before—her nose is slightly hooked, her eyes a bit bluish; we thought it was just because she'd stayed in Meiguo too long, but now it looks like she's still inherited her ancestors' bloodline, fundamentally not Chinese."

I feared Pangzi's words were too blunt and might upset Shirley Yang, so I hurriedly said, "This background is truly extraordinary, but how come your surname is Yang?"

Shirley Yang found it hard to accept, shaking her head: "I don't know; my family has been ethnic Chinese for generations, perhaps it's my mother's side lineage—my maternal grandfather's hooked nose is quite obvious… Regardless of who the descendant is in the prophet's revelation, it doesn't matter now; the urgent priority is to leave this place as quickly as possible. The later revelation shows that the Ancestor Sage will point out an escape route for our tribe's descendants, but under no circumstances must the goatskin scroll be dropped to the ground—for if the scroll falls, that is when the sandstorm begins, at which point the yellow sand will once again swallow the Pure and Absolute Ancient City and Zhagelama Sacred Mountain, and this time the sacred mountain will be buried by the sea of sand until the end of time."

I quickly warned Shirley Yang, "You must absolutely not let this goatskin scroll fall to the ground, or a great sandstorm will immediately arise; before we even have a chance to leave, we will be buried together with this sacred mountain. What else comes after?"

Shirley Yang said, "This is the final part; there's nothing after. The Ancestor Sage will point out an escape route? Take a look at the Ancestor Sage's remains—see if there are any clues."

Shirley Yang knew this goatskin scroll was like a time bomb; before leaving Zhagelama Mountain, under no circumstances could it touch the ground, otherwise the prophet's great sandstorm would occur. She therefore opened her portable pack, preparing to place the scroll inside as a precaution.

We had just finished speaking when Professor Chen, who had been held between Pangzi and me, suddenly summoned strange strength, shouting shrilly as he broke free and lunged at Shirley Yang, only to hear him loudly scream, "Never think of leaving!"

We three were stunned by Professor Chen's cry—not because his shout was piercing, but now we could clearly hear that his grim cry resembled that of the recently deceased Ye Yixin.

Taking advantage of the one or two seconds before we could react, Professor Chen knocked the goatskin scroll from Shirley Yang's hand; the great sandstorm capable of swallowing the entire city and sacred mountain was about to strike……