Chapter 89: Coffin Array

After running for a long time, we were dizzy and disoriented, but still couldn't see our destination. We were already murmuring in our hearts. When we heard Liang Shiye suddenly say this, Lao Yang stopped and asked him, "Shiye, what do you mean by 'got tricked'? How do you explain it?"

Liang Shiye rubbed his chest while pointing at the ground, saying to us, "Two... young masters, look at this coffin. Doesn't it look very familiar?"

Upon hearing this, I raised the torch higher and indeed saw a coffin beside us with a hole in it. It looked like the one Lao Yang had crushed when he climbed down the cliff. I felt a sense of dread in my heart. Turning the torch back, I saw that behind us was indeed that cliff.

Lao Yang looked around and complained, "Old Wu, how did you lead the way? Isn't this the place we just came down from?"

I said to him, "I don't know either. Everywhere here looks the same. Damn it, I just kept walking without paying attention. I don't know if we took a wrong turn and got looped back."

Liang Shiye caught his breath and waved his hand at us, saying, "No, none of you noticed. I remember clearly that this path has been straight all along, with no turns or forks. This is not simple. If I'm not mistaken, we might have been fooled by something."

I was quite concerned about Liang Shiye's words and asked him, "Could it be that we walked too far and reached the other end of the cave? Look, there are many coffins with holes here. Maybe it's just a coincidence?"

Liang Shiye shook his head: "My watch has a compass. I'm used to calculating feng shui directions every time I arrive at a place. When we came down just now, I already took note. Now we have indeed returned to the starting point."

By now, Lao Yang had begun to sense that something was wrong. He said, "That's bad. Could it be that we encountered some unclean thing that's messing with our eyes?"

I laughed bitterly to myself. With thousands of coffins around, the gathered qi of a thousand corpses—who would believe there were no unclean things? But Liang Shiye shook his head: "I don't think so. In the customs of Miao cave burials, the coffins that can enter the cave are all from natural deaths. Those who died of illness, murder, or other unnatural deaths can only be buried outside. Even if there are ghosts here, they would absolutely not be harmful."

I knew this man was indeed knowledgeable, so I asked him, "Liang Shiye, your experience in this area should be greater than ours. What do you think is going on? Our torches won't last much longer. Once the fire goes out, we'll really be helpless, with no one to turn to. We need to think of a solution quickly."

Liang Shiye said, "In my opinion, the reason we walked in a circle is that the arrangement of the coffins here is problematic. These thousands of coffins are crisscrossed, and some principles of strange gates and changeable numbers may have been applied, turning the entire cave into a maze. You know Zhuge Liang's Eight Formation Diagram: with just a few piles of stones, he could trap a hundred thousand troops. Here, a few thousand coffins trapping the three of us is just a piece of cake, isn't it?"

The story of Zhuge Liang driving troops to gather random stones and setting up a stone formation on the Yufupu beach by the mountain and river to block Lu Xun—Lao Yang and I both knew it. But the novel's description was exaggerated after all. I simply didn't believe that a mere few piles of stones could have such a great effect. If that were true, why build so many tanks and cannons? Lao Yang also didn't believe it. He said to him, "Shiye, don't try to fool us with the same trick you used on the Guangdong boss. You yourself are trapped here too. As for this Eight Formation Diagram, I've heard it on storytelling shows, and it's nothing like what you said. Besides, when we looked down from the cliff, the arrangement of the coffins was clear at a glance. We didn't see any special layout. How come after coming down, we're trapped and going in circles? Could it be that these coffins can move on their own?"

Liang Shiye said, "This is different. When you look from above, you only see a general picture. In such a short time, could you memorize the entire path and direction between the coffins? Once down here, it's pitch black. As long as each coffin is slightly offset, it can lead us onto a pre-designed wrong path, and we'll be walking back without knowing it. You two young masters are also experienced. I won't go on with big principles. We must not underestimate the wisdom of the ancients."

I felt that Liang Shiye's words made some sense, but I couldn't fully believe them. Regardless, there was definitely something strange here. It

Liang Shiye sighed: "I'm not boasting, but this simple coffin formation is nothing to me. Barring any accidents, I'm certain I can crack it. However, everything takes time, and I'm afraid our torches won't last that long. Moreover, I think we have more important matters to decide first at this moment."

I knew what he meant and felt a headache coming on. The main problem now wasn't breaking the formation, but how to face our situation. Not moving forward wasn't an option, but moving forward wasn't either. This time we were lucky enough to come back to the same place; next time might not be so fortunate. When the torches go out, there will be no village ahead and no inn behind – we'd be trapped for sure.

Actually, the simplest way to break the formation was to climb over the coffins on the side, but no one suggested it, and everyone knew why.

After a few minutes of stalemate, the flame on the torch flickered and gradually weakened. Lao Yang looked at the torch and suddenly said, "Damn, I have an idea. Why don't we set all these coffins on fire, a blazing chain of camps for eighteen miles. Burn them all and we're clean."

I thought this guy had moments of being smart and moments of being stupid – to come up with an idea like that. I shouted, "Isn't that just suicide by fire? Even if you don't burn to death, you'll be smoked to death. Forget it, how about this: I'll walk ahead first, and you watch the direction of my torch. Once I deviate from the path, you call me to stop, and we'll know where the problem is?"

Lao Yang said, "No way. What if your torch goes out halfway? You'd be in an even worse situation alone. Who would go save you? We absolutely cannot separate at a time like this." I was getting anxious too, but Lao Yang's words calmed me down. It was pitch black here, the formation was so complex – if we got separated, it would be a disaster. Besides, this whole mess wasn't my fault. Lao Yang had walked through it once before. If anyone should be the scout, it should be him. I asked Lao Yang, "Lao Yang, you've done this before, haven't you? How did you get out that time?"

Lao Yang scratched his head and said, "I don't know either. When I came out, I was in a daze, head down, walking without thinking about anything. I just walked all the way here without any trouble. I didn't even encounter the coffin formation. So I don't think it's the way you say. Otherwise, I wouldn't have made it out last time, and I wouldn't have the life to come back."

Liang Shiye said, "That's not unreasonable. The coffin formation mainly confuses our eyes and misleads our sense of direction visually. If we don't rely on our eyes and feel our way by instinct, we might be able to get through. Your daze last time might have been the key to your smooth exit."

Lao Yang laughed loudly, "Give it a rest. You can spin anything. According to you, from now on, whenever we encounter something like this, we just need to tie a madman in front to lead the way, and any formation would be a piece of cake."

Liang Shiye saw that he didn't believe him and was a bit offended. He sneered, "Don't be so sure. It's not impossible."

Lao Yang said, "Alright then. I'll leave this arduous task to you. In a moment, I'll take a brick and knock you senseless. You'll have to work hard and lead us in. When we get out, I'll book you a suite in a mental hospital – I promise I won't treat you badly."

I thought Lao Yang's words were too mean, so I quickly mediated: "When did you two get in the mood for jokes? Hurry up and think of a way to get through this path. If we can't, we'd better climb back up to the cliff while we still can."

Liang Shiye thought for a moment and asked Lao Yang, "How long did it take you that time?"

Lao Yang said, "That was three years ago. I can't remember exactly. At least the time it takes to smoke half a cigarette."

Liang Shiye thought for a moment and said to us, "Young sirs, from what he says, the clearing is actually not far in a straight line. This shouldn't be too difficult. I think my analysis is correct: to break this formation, if you try intentionally, you won't get out; if you do it unintentionally, you will. If you two trust me, let's try it out. Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth."

I asked him, "How do we test that? Do we actually knock someone senseless like Lao Yang said?"

Lao Yang said to Liang Shiye, "Think carefully. If we're knocking, it'll be you."

Liang Shiye said, "Of course not. What are you thinking? I mean, we extinguish the torch, feel our way in the dark, count the time in our heads, and when it's about right, we light the torch again. Without visual interference, we'll see if we can reach that place."

Lao Yang immediately objected: "No way, no way. It's pitch black. I'm not doing that. What if we get lost?"

Liang Shiye said, "Then how about we blindfold one person, and the rest follow behind him? That should work."

I thought about it. Staying here any longer wasn't a solution. I took out the leftover rags from making the torch and handed them to Lao Yang to blindfold himself.

Lao Yang was very unwilling, but he was the only one who had gotten out before, so he had to be the one to lead.

At that moment, the torch in my hand flickered twice, finally gave out, and with a puff, went out.