Chapter 109: Out of Control

Just now, I suddenly thought of something: when Old Yang first came to find me, what got me interested in this tomb was the six-cornered bell he wore on his ear. At the time, he told me that he had taken that bell from a corpse in the underground chamber below.

Coming down here the whole way, I hadn't had time to open any of the other coffins, so I didn't know if what he said was true. If he had been lying to me, then where did that earring on his ear really come from? Could he actually control this ability and materialize one out of thin air? If Old Yang really could use such a power, things would get complicated. Many things I had only felt puzzled about earlier were now becoming unsettling.

For example, when we came here, Master Liang told us that Boss Wang was a rough guy, had been in the underworld since he was young, and had a very low education level. The only thing he could brag about was his family heirloom, that book *Jieyu Lu*. Such a person—when I explained the concept of the subconscious to him earlier, he understood it right away and even gave examples. That showed he had at least some understanding of psychology, one way or another.

At the time, I did feel it was a bit strange, but I didn't pay too much attention, thinking it was just a coincidence.

Maybe Boss Wang had lofty aspirations: while swindling and cheating, he still managed to find time to study psychology on his own, wanting to be a cultured gangster. But given how violent and brutal he was, that seemed unlikely.

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but look at Boss Wang. A very strange premonition came over me, and I felt an odd unease in my heart—could it be that the man in front of me was not actually Boss Wang? He was deep in thought about the idea I had just proposed, so absorbed that he didn't notice me staring at him with a strange look. I took the chance to examine his expression, his clothes, and the many small details about him.

I had never had much of an impression of Boss Wang. For one thing, he didn't talk much; for another, his movements weren't particularly striking. Before climbing the bronze tree, I had only seen him once or twice, and I didn't have much memory to judge whether the person before me was genuine or not.

But after one look, I still felt like I had noticed a problem, though I wasn't entirely sure.

To verify my suspicion, I suddenly pretended to see something, waved my hand in front of him, and whispered, "Boss Wang!"

Boss Wang turned his head abruptly and asked, "What?"

"Don't move, whatever you do!" I made a gesture for him to stay still, then carefully walked over to him step by step.

He watched me nervously, thinking something had landed on his shoulder, and kept glancing sideways. I walked up to him, pressed my hand against his chest, and let out a silent gasp. Without doing anything else, I stepped back.

He was utterly baffled by my actions and whispered, "What's wrong? What happened?"

By now I was fairly confident in my guess. I looked at him and said, "I think your clothes are a bit strange. Where did you buy them?"

Boss Wang stared at me like I was crazy, then laughed and said, "Are you kidding me? You suddenly ask me that out of the blue?"

I replied, "No kidding at all, Boss Wang. A few months ago, the first time I went tomb raiding, my uncle sent me to buy supplies. Back then I wanted to buy the same brand of climbing jacket you're wearing now, but I didn't end up buying it. Do you know why? Because those two chest pockets on this kind of jacket look big, but they're actually fake—just for decoration. At the time, I thought that for an expedition, the more pockets the better, so I bought a different style."

Boss Wang touched the two pockets, and his expression changed.

I clapped my hands lightly and said in a low voice, "So I find it a bit strange. Just now, where did you pull out that glow stick and your cigarettes from, huh? Boss Wang, or should I say… Old Yang?"

Boss Wang stared at me blankly. After a long pause, he burst out laughing. Suddenly, his fat body began to shrink, like a deflating balloon, collapsing down.

I watched his face change little by little, slowly transforming into Old Yang's face. I knew I had guessed correctly.

He finally stretched his body, sighed, and said, "Wu Xie never changes, huh. Damn it, since we were kids, you've always been the one tricking me. The one time I try to trick you, you see right through it."

I looked at him coldly and asked, "Cut the crap. What game are you playing this time?"

He gave a bitter smile and waved his hand, as if he didn't know how to explain.

We were both silent for a while, then he said, "Same as before—my goal wasn't to deceive you. But this matter had to be done this way for it to work. Wait until I explain everything, then you'll understand that every step was necessary."

I sneered, "Why should I believe you?"

Seeing how freely he could control his appearance, I realized his mastery of this ability went far beyond my imagination. His purpose in coming to this place definitely wasn't money—with an ability like that, money was no problem at all.

But with such an ability, almost invincible, what goal could he have that he couldn't achieve? Why did he have to come to this godforsaken place? Could it be that this ability had some flaw?

Regardless, I was now certain that from the moment he first came to find me, I had fallen into a carefully laid trap. That meant he had been lying from the very start. And I had trusted him so much—damn that bastard. If I could control this power, I'd turn him into a pig.

Old Yang saw the change in my expression and knew that although I appeared calm on the surface, I was boiling with rage inside. He didn't know how to calm me down and looked at me helplessly.

After a long pause, he suddenly sighed, as if he had resigned himself to something. He pulled a photo out of his pocket and said, "Take a look at this, then I'll explain."

I took it and shone my light on it. The photo showed his mother, her hair already streaked with gray—probably from too much worry. Those years Old Yang spent in prison had hit her hard. She had been very beautiful when she was younger, and always kind to us. We used to call her Pretty Auntie. My dad and I would go visit her a few times every year.

I didn't know why he was showing me this photo. I asked, "What do you mean?"

He sighed, gave a faint, sad smile, and said, "I told you my mother was in trouble and I needed money. Actually, that was a lie. My mother passed away while I was in prison."

I let out an "ah" sound and looked at him with extreme suspicion, frowning. "Your mother… died?" He nodded silently, looked at his own hands, and said, "The day after I got out of prison, I rushed home eagerly, wanting to surprise my mom. But when I pushed open the door, I smelled a foul stench. My mom was slumped over her sewing machine, not moving. I thought she was having a heart attack, so I went to help her. When I lifted her up, do you know what the hell I saw?!"

Old Yang closed his eyes and groaned in pain: "Her face was stuck to the sewing machine. When I pulled it, the whole thing tore off… My God…"

I hadn't known his mother had passed away, and I didn't know how to react. I just stood there staring at him. But Old Yang was a very devoted son; he would never joke about something like this involving his mother.

He touched his forehead and continued, "After I buried my mom, I stayed alone in the empty house, not knowing what to do. I didn't dare to sleep either. Every time I lay down, I saw my mom's face stuck to the sewing machine. I stayed like that for nine days. I was starving to death, and I thought, maybe I should just starve myself. But then, all of a sudden, I smelled a delicious aroma coming from the kitchen, like someone was stir-frying. I went to look, and I saw my mom had appeared again. When she saw me, she said, 'Wait a bit, it'll be ready soon.'"

Hearing this, I already understood what was going on.

Old Yang continued, "At first I thought I was going crazy from missing her, that I was having hallucinations. Later, I gradually realized something was off. It wasn't a hallucination. Not only me, even the vegetable seller saw my mom. That's when I knew she had really come back. She was exactly the same as before, even the food she cooked tasted the same.

If it had been anyone else, they might have thought they'd seen a ghost. But I didn't. I started to think about what was happening. Gradually, I began to notice something strange about my surroundings, but I still couldn't pinpoint the key. Until once, I watched TV all night. Guess what? That night, the power was out. But in my entire neighborhood, only my house still had electricity. All the appliances ran without power, without even needing to be plugged in."

I interrupted: "So you knew?"

He nodded and said, "I'm not as clever as you. It took me a whole week to figure all this out. To be honest, I was very happy. Even though I knew my mother might have been created by me, I would rather believe that my mother's death was a dream. But good times didn't last long. When I discovered this ability and gradually started to control it, problems arose. Once you use your mind to control this ability, if you can't clear away distracting thoughts, many things get mixed up and become very terrible. So one day, when I got up, I saw my mother with her back to me doing sewing. As soon as I saw her sitting at the sewing machine, I was terrified. I tiptoed over. Do you know what I saw? My god, my mother's face…"

Old Yang made several gestures, but really couldn't continue, and sighed deeply several times.

I felt a chill in my heart, unable to imagine how terrifying that scene must have been. Old Yang produced a cigarette out of thin air, put it in his mouth, and without a lighter, the cigarette lit up. He took a deep drag and then continued, "From that moment on, I realized the horror of this power. But I wasn't resigned. I really wanted my mother back, so I had to find someone who knew my mother and had a very clean subconscious. That someone is you, Old Wu."

I never expected Old Yang's purpose to be this. I said, "But, Old Yang, this sounds like going against heaven's will. The dead cannot come back to life."

He said, "Old Wu, I'm not very greedy. I only want three years. Just three years with my mom and I'll be satisfied. You've come to my house many times. Don't you feel reluctant to let my mom die alone like that?"

I sighed, thinking that if his mother really came back to life, would I dare to go to his house? This bronze tree, I wonder who erected it here, to have such evil power. Are the people materialized by that power even considered human?

After thinking for a long time, I still shook my head. "I can't do this, Old Yang. Your mother is already dead. She has returned to the earth. You… just let her go. Don't cling to her."

Old Yang smiled. "It's too late, Old Wu. You don't understand. This matter has nothing to do with whether you want to help me or not. This is also why I couldn't tell you my purpose. Now, I think my purpose has been achieved."

I didn't understand what he was saying, and asked, "What do you mean?"

He raised his hand and said, "First, try to see if you can materialize something."

I didn't know what he was trying to do. I looked at my own hand, thought of the image of a stone, and tried to materialize my thought. But after trying hard for a while, my hand was still empty. Without a doubt, this ability is very difficult to use. Ordinary people cannot control their own subconscious.

Old Yang said to me somewhat smugly, "You see, this power is certainly useless when you try to use it intentionally. Otherwise, when I was hungry just now, a roast duck would have flown over by itself. It only appears under specific circumstances. This is very difficult, Old Wu. It can only be guided, not used. Even with training, it's very hard. If you want to conjure a TV set here, something so complex, it's impossible no matter what."

I looked at him. "Are you saying this ability is passive? It needs psychological guidance?"

He nodded. "Yes, like the words I just said to you."

I froze for a moment, looked at him, and said, "Nonsense! Do you think I believe everything, damn it?"

Old Yang shook his head. Just then, suddenly the bronze tree along with the entire amber shook. We both slipped and almost fell. We quickly grabbed the bronze chain beside us and looked down. We saw something seemed to be wriggling in the abyss below us. Every time it wriggled, the bronze tree shook. In an instant, it was earth-shattering, and we couldn't even stand steadily.

I held onto the bronze chain, feeling puzzled, and then remembered something. I turned back and asked Old Yang, "By the way, was that strange 'di... di... di' sound also made by you?"

Old Yang also looked down doubtfully and nodded, saying, "Yes, I used that sound to lure you into the root disk, and then I knocked out Boss Wang who was guarding outside. That radio interference was just to prevent you from hearing the sounds of Boss Wang and me fighting."

I frowned and shouted, "Then what's going on with this shaking?!"

Old Yang's expression also changed. He said, "I don't know either. But, Old Wu, what is your first impression of this bronze tree?"

As soon as I heard him say that, I suddenly shivered. "I think... it leads to hell..." I said, looking down. "No way, you don't mean to say that the thing below is..."

Old Yang gave me a hard kick and yelled, "Idiot! Don't think recklessly!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, a huge eye appeared in the darkness below, its purple pupil narrowing into a strange narrow slit like a cat's.