Chapter 346: Green Light

I turned around almost reflexively, driven by my body's first instinct. Through the back door of the front hall, I saw a strange green light glowing in the rear hall across the courtyard. The light seeped through the decayed carved window, dimly "diffusing" through the water.

The green light was extraordinarily eerie, exactly as before. Now that I was so close, I could detect a barely perceptible flicker in the light. This flicker cast a ghastly green pall over the entire courtyard, making it feel haunted and as if I had suddenly entered another dimension.

I swallowed hard, my body ice-cold, the fear in my heart beyond description, even my mind starting to falter. What was bound to come had finally come; there was no escaping it! I forced myself to calm down, moving toward the rear hall while telling myself that since I had come this far, I had anticipated this situation. I had encountered similar situations many times before and had come through unscathed, hadn't I? I refused to believe this could be any more terrifying than what I had already faced.

It was less than twenty steps from the front hall, across the courtyard, to the rear hall. But whether because my body was stiff or my sense of time was off, it took me a full five minutes to swim that distance.

The rear hall's main door was tightly shut, with several carved window panels completely collapsed, the interior filled with green light but unclear. I shone my light inside cautiously, and for a split second, the beam caught a shadow that nearly stopped my heart.

I expected to see a pale woman's face, but it was only a shadow.

The rear hall was identical to the front hall, except for the piles of rotten debris on the floor—almost completely empty. In the middle of the rear hall stood another screen, the eerie green light faintly leaking out from behind it.

This scene was like something out of a ghost story: a dilapidated old house, a scholar studying by lamplight at night, a female ghost drifting in, watching the light from outside. Only now the positions were reversed: the scholar was outside looking in at the firelight, and inside there might actually be a female ghost who had drowned here.

I surveyed the rear hall from top to bottom, getting a sense of the layout so I could make a quick escape if trouble arose. Just as I was about to enter through the window, the green light quickly dimmed and then went out.

My heart tightened, as if someone had grabbed my throat, and I immediately held my breath.

Had it sensed me?

A flood of images flashed through my mind, speculating on what lay behind the screen. Since that "water ghost" had sensed my arrival, it was surely lying in ambush, ready to launch a sudden attack.

No! I had no advantage at all. If I went in like this and it really was a water ghost, wouldn't I be courting death?

I was completely alone, with no one knowing I was here. Even if it wasn't a water ghost, if my foot got stuck or my oxygen ran out, I would surely die here, and my body might not be discovered for centuries. Was I really going to risk it all? Shouldn't I think this over more carefully?

I suddenly lost all courage. The bravado evaporated, and I dared not go in.

Had fear addled my brain?

Should I retreat now and find backup?

But if I did, everything I had done so far would be wasted. Poker-face and Fatty had left no trace, simply vanishing at the bottom of the lake. If I went up now, would I have another chance to dive again? Even if I did, would I have the courage to repeat the whole process? Probably not. Then maybe Poker-face and Fatty would truly disappear from my life.

At that moment, I couldn't help but miss Panzi. What a driving force he would have been if he were here! I was clearly different from them. I thought my experience was rich enough, but courage didn't seem to have much to do with experience. Here I was in the courtyard, just a few strokes away from retreat, kicking my legs upward, and in a few minutes I could escape this eerie underwater ancient building and forget all about it. But I stood there, hesitating, because deep down I knew that whether I moved forward or backward, once I took that first step, I couldn't stop.

Then my eyes caught something: a clear handprint.

The handprint was on the window frame. I had been so tense earlier that I hadn't noticed it.

The place was covered in sediment, but this handprint was so clear it had to have been made recently. Was it mine? I leaned in to compare. The handprint had two very long fingers—it was Poker-face's.

I froze for a moment, then traced the position of the handprint—it matched the motion of prying open the window frame. Had Poker-face pried open the window here? From here to where I had first descended was several hundred meters. How could he have traveled such a distance without his helmet and without a light? Had he become a water ghost too? The incredulity grew, but then I thought of Poker-face, and something in me settled. Hadn't I promised to help him? If he had become a water ghost, then I might as well die and become one too—the water ghost trio wouldn't be too lonely. He had saved me many times before; if not for him, I would have been dead long ago. Was my life really so valuable that I couldn't take a risk for him?

I managed to steady myself. To be honest, this reasoning didn't lessen my fear; in fact, I was even more scared. My whole body trembled uncontrollably, and I couldn't stop it. But the conviction in my heart was so strong that, despite the fear, I swam into the rear hall through the window.

As I entered, I immediately thought, was this rude? Shouldn't I have knocked first? Maybe then, in recognition of my good manners, it would spare my life. The thought made me slap myself across the mouth to snap out of it.

The rear hall looked exactly like the front hall. I slowly circled around the screen. The green light did not reappear. Just as I was about to see what was behind the screen, I paused, because my hands were shaking so badly I could barely hold my flashlight.

The trembling was uncontrollable, and the light flickered in rhythm, making the screen in front of me seem as if it might topple over. I had to use my other hand to help, forcing myself to take the last few steps.

At that moment, every nerve in my body was taut. I had prepared myself mentally to see any horror, and as the scene behind the screen truly came into view, I even felt as if the blood vessels in my brain would burst.

But when the flashlight beam fell on it, there was only a pile of white rubble—nothing else.

Damn it! I felt as if I had been toyed with. In my extreme tension, the sight of nothing didn't bring immediate relief; instead, I remained tense.

I looked around and found the entire inner hall was completely enclosed. It was empty behind the screen. The only door should have led to the rear courtyard, but I had seen from outside that it opened onto the street.

If the thing emitting the green light had been here, it must still be here—it must have hidden itself.

I held my breath and swam over, assuming a defensive posture, peering beneath the rubble to see if anything was pinned under it. But it was too chaotic to make out clearly. As I looked, I suddenly noticed the only upright object: in the corner behind the screen of the rear hall stood a folding screen.

I couldn't tell what material the screen was made of, but it hadn't rotted. However, its hinges could no longer support it, and it leaned crookedly, out of shape. I shone my flashlight on it, and my scalp gradually went numb. Behind the screen, a strange human shadow was cast.