Everyone dropped their jaws in shock. They couldn't believe what they had just seen.
I couldn't believe it. That night, the red shadow that had gently massaged my legs had lifted her veil, and the skeleton that the old Daoist had to use all of his power to deal with had been smashed into smithereens.
And that female corpse, the one that the fat man's father couldn't kill even with his life, was now lying on the ground.
I couldn't help but remember the black dou string that Old He had used to seal the grave in the graveyard yesterday.
The red shadow quickly lowered her veil. She didn't say anything and just pointed at the coffin.
The female corpse crawled up from the ground, but she still kept her head low. She looked very obedient. She used her good leg to hop back into the coffin and lay down.
The red shadow reached out to push the coffin lid closed. Then, she turned around and faced us.
As we had just walked through the gates of hell, everyone was still scared. Moreover, the red shadow was wearing a red wedding dress. From a certain point of view, she was even scarier than the female corpse and the skeleton. No one dared to relax. All of them looked at her anxiously.
Only I exhaled in relief. I even felt a little regretful. When the red shadow lifted her veil, she had her back to me, so I didn't see her face under the veil.
It was a little funny. At that moment, I thought that the red shadow's face had scared the female corpse and made her kneel. How ugly would that be?
The red shadow stood there in silence. The thick red veil blocked her line of sight, but I could feel that she was looking at me.
After a while, she turned around and picked up the coffin from the ground. Then, she walked toward the giant door.
The giant stone door opened again, squeaking noises that sounded a little ear-piercing. I felt a little dizzy.
At first, I thought it was just my imagination. However, the people standing next to me all fell to the ground and fainted.
Even the old Daoist priest's broken sword fell to the ground with a clang, and he fell to the ground.
I didn't know what was going on. Then, I heard the red shadow's voice from the giant door.
"Follow me."
As soon as she said that, the red shadow disappeared behind the giant door.
I had a kind of blind trust in Red Shadow. Moreover, she had just saved us, so there was no reason for her to harm us.
I didn't care about the person who had fainted on the ground and followed him through the huge door.
Just as I stepped through the door, I raised my head and saw two enormous beast heads charging at me.
I was frightened, but I didn't have time to retreat. I closed my eyes and waited for my death. Then, I saw two huge statues in front of me. They were two strange-looking wild beasts, baring their fangs and brandishing their claws at the door. They looked very real.
More importantly, the statues were too big. Each of them was 20 meters long, and they were very close to the door. When the people who just walked in looked up, they couldn't see anything other than their eyes.
Although it was just a statue, I was still scared. My face paled. I turned around and saw that the red shadow had placed the coffin on the ground. He was holding a wooden box in his hand.
Besides that, there were a few people lying on the ground not far from her feet. I focused and saw that they were Old He, the middle-aged man with the one-armed man, and the old man with the ruler in his hand.
Among the people who had fallen, only the three of them hadn't met up with the people outside. I didn't know when they had entered the stone door.
Red Shadow placed the wooden box on the ground and said to me, "Take them and leave."
With that, she turned her back on me and slowly walked towards the statue of the beast.
I didn't know why, but I panicked. I asked her, "What about you?"
The red shadow seemed to be walking slowly, but she was already very far away. Her figure was a little blurry, and only her voice could be heard.
"We will meet again if we are fated to. Husband, take care."
Husband?
I was dumbfounded when I heard the red shadow's name. Even after she had completely disappeared, I was still bewildered. Did she just call me husband?
Why?
I suddenly recalled the scene in my dream when we were married. I felt that it was absurd and unbelievable.
The red shadow had completely disappeared. I didn't want to think about it anymore. I hurried to wake up Old He and the others. However, I had only taken two steps when I kicked the wooden box that the red shadow had placed on the ground.
I suddenly remembered that the red shadow had said 'take them and leave.' Did she mean take Old He and the others and this wooden box?
That should be the case. Otherwise, the red shadow wouldn't have purposely placed the wooden box on the ground.
The wooden box wasn't big. It was only the size of a book, and it was very thin. There was a push board on the top, so I guessed there was something inside.
I wasn't in the mood to look at it, so I picked up the wooden box. Since I was worried that Old He would ask me about the origin of the wooden box after I woke him up, I purposely put the wooden box on the waist of my pants and covered it with my shirt.
After everything was done, I walked over and pushed Old He. He seemed to be unconscious as he lay there. Who would have thought that when I gently touched him, he would jump up and slap my shoulder, making me roll twice on the ground.
When I got up, rubbing my shoulder, Old He was still sitting on the ground in a daze. His eyes weren't focused, and his pupils seemed to have dissipated. He looked just like the idiot who used to wander the streets in our village and giggled all day long.
I didn't know what was wrong with Old He, so I carefully called his name a few more times. Then, I saw that his eyes slowly regained focus, as though his soul had finally returned to him.
"Grandpa He, Grandpa He …"
I called his name twice more. Old He turned to look at me and said in a weak voice, "Hey, it's you, kid …"
Before he could finish his sentence, he jumped up from the ground. His left hand made a hand seal, and his eyes squinted. His pupils shrank. He looked just like the cat I had seen in the fat man's house, looking around in fear.
I hurried to comfort him. "Grandpa He, there's no danger around. We're safe now …"
"Shut up!"
Old He cut me off. He stood there with his eyes looking around for seven to eight minutes. Then, he exhaled and turned to ask me, "What happened?"
Of course, I wouldn't tell him about the red shadow. I simply told him what had happened outside. Then, I said that I had also fainted. When I woke up, I heard some movement inside, so I came in and saw them.
Old He nodded and didn't ask any more questions. He walked over to the middle-aged man and the other old man, and kicked them to wake them up.
After the middle-aged man and the old man woke up, they looked like they were making threatening gestures. It took them a long time before they calmed down. I don't know what happened before they fainted.
After they calmed down, Old He didn't explain anything to them. He just told them to follow him, and then walked to the door.
Just then, I noticed that both of the middle-aged man's arms were still intact. It scared me out of my wits.
Earlier, by the tomb outside, I had seen the dead woman tear off one of his arms with my own eyes. Blood had spurted out and formed a big puddle on the ground. But now, only his left sleeve had been torn off from his shoulder, and there was a lot of blood around it. His arm was still intact.
I pointed at his arm and opened my mouth at Old He. I was so surprised that I couldn't say anything.
Old He shook his head at me and said, "Let's talk outside!" Then, he walked out of the stone door.
When the last person walked out of the huge door, the stone door quickly closed without a sound. The people outside were still lying unconscious on the ground.
Old He walked over and woke them up one by one.
When they woke up, they were no different from Old He's group. Their eyes were dull, and it took them a long time to wake up. However, no one moved around like Old He's group.
After waking them up, Old He didn't ask much. He did a headcount and arranged for people to carry Liu Dayi's body out.
The entrance that we had come through didn't look like a cave anymore. It looked like an intact rock wall.
On the other hand, there was a deep cave in another direction.
Although the cave's appearance was strange, it was the only way. Old He didn't hesitate and lit a torch, walking in first.
Not long after we entered, we heard someone shouting, "There's light!"
The group lifted their heads and looked forward. Indeed, there was a faint white light in the distance. It looked like the North Star in the night sky, guiding the way.
Only then did the desolate crowd finally raise their spirits and hurried on with their journey.
After walking for more than ten minutes, we finally got out of the long tunnel. When the blinding white light shone on us, we felt as if we had been reborn. Some of them even slumped on the ground as soon as they got out of the cave.
It was around four or five in the afternoon. Only a few hours had passed since we had come here to open the grave. However, everyone, including me, felt as if a lifetime had passed.
After a while, I looked around and realized that we weren't at the hillside where the graveyard was. We were at the foot of the mountain.
Old He saw many people slumping on the ground, but he didn't stop urging us to continue. He arranged for us to rest here for a while.
At this moment, someone finally noticed the middle-aged man's arm. He gawked and asked, "He Yuanshan, your arm … How did it grow back?"
As soon as he said that, everyone turned to look at the middle-aged man, their eyes wide open.
He Yuanshan didn't say anything, and he didn't look happy or happy. Quite the contrary, his eyes showed the deepest fear. He turned to look at Old He.
Old He's face didn't look any better than He Yuanshan's. He shook his head and was about to say something when we heard a rumbling noise from the cave entrance we had just come out from.
"Not good, I'm afraid the cave is going to collapse. Everyone, leave this place!"
Old He's face changed. He hurried to order everyone to leave.
After we had all retreated far away, the cave entrance had disappeared. Sand, stones, and trees were rolling down from the mountain. We could even feel the tremors under our feet.
There was a small earthquake here.
Old He didn't mention He Yuanshan's arm anymore. He just silently brought us back to the village and sent me home. Then, he took out a mobile phone and made a call. He asked someone to pick them up and bring them back.
Since the fat man's father had passed away, Old He didn't let the fat man go home alone. He brought him back to the county.
After they left, I had dinner at home. Then, I felt dizzy and sleepy, so I went to my room to sleep.
I slept from evening to early morning. When I woke up at midnight, I was still groggy, but my hand was still holding the jade bracelet on my chest.
Although I knew that Red Shadow had entered the stone door, I still called out to him a few times, as if I had been possessed.
Of course, there was no response.
When the red shadow had left through the stone door, I didn't feel anything. However, when I woke up in the middle of the night, I realized that I would never see the red shadow again. I felt so lost.
I moved my body and felt a little uncomfortable at my waist. I remembered the wooden box the red shadow had given me in the stone door.
I hurried to take it out. After I pushed the wooden board open, I saw a stack of square silk cloths inside.
At the top of the silk cloths, there were three big black characters written in a crooked script. I could barely recognize them. They were the words' Death Scripture '.
I had seen this type of script in a history book. In my memory, it was called Big Seal Script or Small Seal Script.
To the left of the three big characters, there were a few rows of small, flat characters.
"Carry me in form, work me in life, lose me in old age, and rest me in death."
"Those who are kind to me in life are kind to me in death."