Chapter 88

The mechanism wall stopped there, improperly and unjustly, and the black mist swirling in the main hall immediately found its target, like a black wall with facial features pressing toward the three; the black mist in the side niche had already swallowed the candle, following close behind; the paths forward and back were blocked, the two large masses of black mist forming a pincer movement against the three. Hearing a fine, restless stirring from front and back, Elder Liaochen urgently said: "Quickly draw the black Buddha's evil spirit away with the candle." "Partridge Whistle" reached into his treasure pouch, groaning in misery, the candles on all three of them had been used up.

At this moment, the thick black mist on both sides was gradually closing in; even a slight touch would likely turn one into the skeleton in the corner. "Partridge Whistle" suddenly flashed a fierce light in his eyes, murderous intent rising in his heart, wanting to kick the American priest Thomas out and then trample on this foreign monk to leap toward the passage beneath the Jade Gate.

Seeing "Partridge Whistle"'s veins bulging on the beam, Elder Liaochen knew he harbored murderous intent to use Thomas as a stepping stone, and quickly grabbed his arm: "Absolutely not, have you forgotten my repeated warnings? Disturbing graves harms yin virtue; your hands must show mercy..."

"Partridge Whistle" originally had a heart like iron, but having followed Elder Liaochen these past days, listening to his teachings on Zen, he had begun to reflect on his past actions; seeing Elder Liaochen's劝解, his heart softened instantly, and he could no longer bring himself to kill, saying: "Forget it, this time I've truly come up short."

But "Partridge Whistle" was nearly the only one left in his tribe capable of action, and he truly was unwilling to die here in the tomb and turn to white bone. Yet the situation was truly desperate, black ghostly mist pressing in from front and back; if he lit a fire to draw off one mass of mist, he would inevitably be swallowed by the other. The tomb chamber was quite high, the black mist hovering about three feet above the ground, with a large gap above, but to cross it, one would need to grow wings on their ribs.

Some people, when faced with danger, instinctively protect themselves—closing their eyes, covering their heads with their hands—like ostriches burying their heads in the sand when threatened, which is utterly useless. But others, the closer they come to life and death, the faster their minds work, several times quicker than usual; "Partridge Whistle" and Elder Liaochen are such people, and they have not given up hope of survival.

"Partridge Whistle" recalled there was a tall coral treasure tree in the center of the tomb chamber, which he could use the Flying Tiger Claw to grab its crown and swing past the black mist from above. The chain of the Flying Tiger Claw was certainly strong enough—slowly speaking, three people, or even ten or eight adults, could not break this chain. But he worried most that the coral treasure tree wasn't sturdy enough to bear the weight of three people. If only he himself were going, relying on his agility, even a withered branch could suffice to swing across with the Flying Tiger Claw; but bringing Elder Liaochen and Father Thomas along, he had no confidence at all—if the coral tree snapped midway, they would all perish.

There was no time left for further thought; "Partridge Whistle" aimed at the coral treasure tree and hurled the Flying Tiger Claw, the claw catching several turns around the highest branch, he reached out and tested it—it was already firmly gripped. "Partridge Whistle" knew Elder Liaochen had long seen through the matter of life and death; if he did not bring Father Thomas, Elder Liaochen would rather die than flee first. Moreover, the situation was urgent, and there was no time to pull them across one by one; they had to stake their lives, all three crossing at once.

"Partridge Whistle" pulled tight on the Flying Tiger Claw, letting Elder Liaochen and Father Thomas each grab one hand on the chain, while the other hand wrapped around his waist. "Partridge Whistle" urged them to lift their legs as high as possible, to avoid touching the black mist below; before Elder Liaochen and Father Thomas could respond, he shouted loudly: "Let's go!" He exerted force with his hands, using the Flying Tiger Claw rope hooked to the coral treasure tree to leap off from the mechanism door stuck midway.

The moment their feet left the ground, the two masses of black mist behind them had already converged below. Father Thomas shut his eyes in fright, wanting to utter a "God bless us," but his teeth chattered, and he couldn't spit out even half a sentence, straining to lift his legs high to avoid the black ghostly mist below, his heart only wishing that if this rope snapped midway, it would surely be a divine sign from God.

"Partridge Whistle" hung in midair, initially worried the coral treasure tree wasn't sturdy enough, but from the force transmitted through the Flying Tiger Claw, he found it could bear the weight of three people; however, this was nearly the limit—adding even a little more weight would inevitably break it.

As long as they leapt over this vast expanse of black mist below, ahead lay the passage beneath the Jade Gate. The three hung in midair, seeing they were about to escape the black ghostly mist's encirclement, they couldn't help but feel invigorated. Just as they were about to swing halfway on the Flying Tiger Claw, suddenly all three felt a tightening behind them, as if something had lain on their thighs—cold, icy, and hard. Father Thomas dared not open his eyes; Elder Liaochen and "Partridge Whistle" knew something was beneath their feet, and both turned their heads in midair, only to see that the white bone originally in the corner had at some point clung to Elder Liaochen's thigh. This shock was no small matter—even someone as venerable as Elder Liaochen was startled by this sudden white bone, and couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air.

Probably just now, having been pressed by the black mist into a desperate situation, all crowded together pulling the Flying Tiger Claw to swing open from the mechanism door, Elder Liaochen had stepped on the white bone's chest cavity, breaking its ribs, catching it on his ankle, suspended in midair with his legs drawn up, thus also lifting that human bone into the air—only then did he feel something was wrong.

"Partridge Whistle"'s lightness skill had been practiced since he was too young to remember; his master had put him in an oil-smeared large vat, letting him figure out how to crawl out on his own; as his body grew, the vat's size gradually increased. Elder Liaochen was a veteran of the Gold-Seeking Colonels, and had also trained in lightness skills since childhood. Their lightness skill relied entirely on holding a single breath; once that breath could not be held, it was over.

At this moment, "Partridge Whistle" and Elder Liaochen saw the white bone hanging from their leg, a shock to their chest and abdomen, and that breath—no matter what—could no longer be held; their bodies immediately became heavy, the branches of the coral treasure tree unable to bear their weight, and with a crack, they snapped apart.

The three lost their support and immediately fell to the ground together with the white bone beneath them; comparatively fortunate, they had already avoided most of the black mist. The three rolled into a ball at the edge of the black ghostly mist. "Partridge Whistle" had just landed when he immediately used the carp's leap to jump up, grabbing Elder Liaochen and Father Thomas and rushing backward to evade.

"Partridge Whistle" felt his left hand numb and itchy to an unbearable degree—it had already been touched by the black ghostly mist. He did not know the principle of the bone-eating worms in the mist—that upon contacting a body warmer than ambient temperature, they die instantly, immediately turning into a corrosive liquid; the worm corpses' corrosive liquid merges with the substance they corrode, and instantly new bone-eating worms regenerate to continue eroding nearby warm bodies, their numbers never diminishing.

"Partridge Whistle" thought he had been poisoned by the toxin of evil ghosts and demons; he raised his hand to look, and his entire left hand was nothing but white, bare finger bones, the muscles on his arm slowly melting, pain gripping his heart and liver; he saw that if left unchecked, his entire body would turn to white bone, and once it spread past his arms, it would be too late to do anything; but now the black mist was right before him, and if he did not leave immediately, he would soon fall again into the encirclement of the black ghostly mist.

"Partridge Whistle" endured the intense pain and dragged Father Thomas and Elder Liaochen backward, seeing Elder Liaochen's eyes tightly shut, not knowing whether he was dead or alive, his heart anxious. He saw those black ghostly mist again finding their trail, re-condensing and slowly advancing; fortunately, the mist moved slowly, otherwise even a cat with nine lives would be finished by now.

Father Thomas suddenly shouted loudly, leapt up, and began frantically feeling over his body—he had not touched the black ghostly mist anywhere. Father Thomas saw "Partridge Whistle"'s left hand already turned to white bone, Elder Liaochen collapsed on the ground unconscious, likely from having fallen from midair and struck something, now unconscious; he quickly helped lift Elder Liaochen and retreated toward the passage beneath the Jade Gate.

The injury on "Partridge Whistle"'s arm was severe, pain making his forehead bead with sweat the size of soybeans; the flesh on his arm had rotted to the elbow joint, at this point he could only resort to the poisonous snake biting the wrist, the warrior's severed arm method. But even if he wanted to chop off his own arm now, there wasn't enough time; the three of them, in this struggle, their movements vigorous, body temperature noticeably rising, seeing the black mist fast approaching before their eyes, "Partridge Whistle" could only use his right hand to take out the German twenty-shot mirror-box pistol, aim it at the black Buddha in the tomb corner, and fire a long burst—five bullets all lodged in the black Buddha—then immediately throw the just-fired pistol box toward the tomb corner.

The thick black ghostly mist was drawn by the heat from the gun barrel, surging toward it; "Partridge Whistle" was already in so much pain he was about to faint, and to Father Thomas he said: "Hurry and go."

The two lifted Elder Liaochen and jumped down into the passage; in the passage there was a black stone suspended in the middle; when they entered, they didn't know what it was, but now they understood—the ghostly mist rising in the passage came from this piece of rotten jade raw stone, certainly because Father Thomas had lit a candle at the passage entrance, making it sense the burning air and thus release the ghostly mist.

"Partridge Whistle" and Father Thomas dragged Elder Liaochen past the rotten jade; upon exiting the passage, "Partridge Whistle" immediately had Father Thomas seal the passage entrance to prevent the mist from chasing them out; then he bit down a piece of his collar, tightly bound it around the blood vessels on his arm, and used the steel shovel blade of the whirlwind shovel to rotate against his own arm, cutting off the entire half of his arm that had been gnawed by the mist. Although he had bound the blood vessels, blood still spurted like a fountain from the severed arm's cross-section, and before he could stop the bleeding, his vision went black, and he fainted.

Father Thomas saw "Partridge Whistle" lose so much blood and faint into unconsciousness; Elder Liaochen had been unconscious since entering the tomb, leaving only himself unharmed—truly, believing in God is the right path; unable to abandon the dying, he first thought of how to get these two Chinese men outside before anything else. Just as he was about to drag "Partridge Whistle," a horrifying sight appeared before his eyes—the half-arm that "Partridge Whistle" had cut off, its flesh already completely turned to pus, leaving only white, bare finger bones, from that pus flew many tiny black dots, dense and numerous, swirling in the passage.