The ghost hit the wall.
The pitch-black corridor seems to have turned into an end-to-end circle, every brick and stone has been carefully polished, covered with thin moss, and the brass lampstands are one after another, extending to the darkest place. The crowd walked over and over with their miner's lamps, starting from Duan Ze's coffin every time, and after walking for nearly an hour, they finally returned to the door of Duan Ze's coffin.
The simple wooden door at the end of the darkness gives people a sense of cold horror for no reason. It is both the beginning and the end, and invisible ghosts lurk behind it, imprisoning the intruders.
Although the tomb passage was colder than the ground, everyone was sweating profusely as they walked. Yin Zhou wiped his forehead resentfully, unscrewed a bottle of mineral water, and poured it down from his forehead: "We've been going around in circles, what the hell? This tomb is so weird, could it be another mechanism this time?"
Lin Yan snatched the mineral water bottle from his hand, "Don't waste it, we've already walked for three hours, and it's probably useless to go any further, and it won't let us out until we find out why the ghost hit the wall, so we should drink water sparingly. just in case… "
"Fuck, there's no chance, don't say such unlucky things."
After being reminded by Lin Yan, everyone couldn't help becoming nervous. Looking into the depths of the dark tunnel, a doubt lingered in their hearts. What commanded the tomb passage to change its appearance in just a few hours? How long will they be stuck in it
"Ghosts hit the wall, ghosts hit the wall, our ghost teammates won't do this." Yin Zhou held the water bottle in his hand, "Could it be that the souls of the two dead people outside were not sent clean, and they came back after fainting for a while gone?"
"Impossible, at least I can feel the ghost approaching, there is no ghost here, but the resentment is getting heavier, it seems to be the smell of that skull array." Xiao Yu said, "It's very uncomfortable..."
Lin Yan glanced at him worriedly, Xiao Yu knew what he meant, pressed the back of Lin Yan's hand, and said softly, "I can hold on for a while, it's fine."
Yin Zhou frowned: "This is not in line with science. In any case, the length of the corridor, the number of blue bricks and lampstands are limited, and there is no fork in the road at all. Could it be that space is folded, time and space are cracked, or we have all been hypnotized? "
Lin Yan smiled bitterly: "None of the things I have experienced recently conforms to the so-called science. I believe in everything now, and I don't believe in anything. But I heard that this situation often occurs in cemeteries, forests and mountains. Science explains that it is due to human beings. When I was extremely tired, I had hallucinations, and when I walked, I used different forces on my left and right feet, and I seemed to be walking straight, but actually kept going in circles.”
"But, but this is a corridor, not an open space, there is no condition to go around in circles at all, and we are not tired." Ayan thought thoughtfully, "Xiao Yu is right, if it is a ghost, at least one of the three of us There will be a feeling, since nothing is found, I suspect that it is the construction agency."
"Ming tombs are known for ingenuity." Lin Yan's eyes lit up when he heard the words, "Could it be that when we were in the coffin, the passage outside the tomb had been replaced? In that case, there must be a The seams are left, let's walk again, and pay attention to the appearance of each blue brick when walking!"
This proposal is quite reliable, the group cheered up, two people walked in a group and searched for suspicious cracks and faults between the bricks, Ache was impatient as a child, and followed behind alone with a lamp, and checked everyone passing by The place.
Using this method, the speed of movement is extremely slow. In order to look for clues of the tomb passage mechanism more carefully, everyone almost squats on the ground and moves forward. First check the ground, and then grope along the walls on both sides. They are extremely similar, not to mention flaws, not even a gap. The corridor that could have been completed in an hour took three times as long this time. His feet were numb and his fingers were cold from the bricks. Until Ayan, who was walking in the front, let out a soft cry, everyone looked up. With a flashlight, everyone was as if a ball had been pricked by a needle, and everyone was discouraged.
What appeared in front of my eyes was the old and dilapidated wooden door, hidden in the darkness like a silent ghost.
They are back again.
"Why, how did this happen..." A Yan took out the compass, and the pointer straightly rushed towards Xiao Yu, "It's not a mechanism, and there are no powerful ghosts nearby, so how could it be impossible to get out?"
No one answered, and everyone was bewildered by the sudden predicament.
Yin Zhou suddenly sniffed: "Do you smell a fishy smell?"
Ayan frowned and sniffed it carefully, and said badly: "This smell is called resentment in Taoism. It is formed from the resentment of the dead, and it probably came from the skull array. It means that although we are trapped here, we are still here. The actual location must not be far from the bone array."
Xiao Yu's complexion began to turn pale, and the team rested on Lin Yan's shoulder as soon as the team stopped, and refused to even raise his head. Lin Yan knew that he was trying to restrain the influence of the ghost formation, suppressed the anxiety in his heart, and pulled the ghost softly. Reminisce about when they were at home.
After a short rest, something worse happened, not only Xiao Yu, but also Ah Che, his calf was shaking violently, his upper and lower teeth were chattering, and he huddled against the wall.
"It's scary, it's so cold, it's coming, it's coming..." Ah Che hugged his knees, "Run, run for your life..."
"What's coming?" Yin Zhou grabbed the fox by the back of the neck and pulled him to his lap. The little guy felt a little angry, and he slipped into Yin Zhou's arms without hesitation, and said in a trembling voice, "I don't know." , I don't know what it is, but I feel so scared... "
Yin Zhou rubbed the back of the fox's head loudly, "I don't know why you are so scared. Even if the wolf comes, we are bigger than you, and it will be full after eating us. It's nothing to do with you."
The fox glanced up quickly: "Really?"
"What are you doing lying to you, little brat?"
"Birds and beasts are the best at protecting themselves." Xiao Yu looked back into the depths of the tunnel, and grabbed Lin Yan's wrist, "Go back to the coffin first, the farther away from the skull array the better."
Lin Yan nodded, and told everyone to pack up their things and retreat to the coffin chamber.
Duan Ze's study has not changed in any way, with tables and chairs, thin coffins, and mottled candle tears. A group of people threw their equipment on the ground. The situation outside was strange. They did not dare to separate and sat on the ground in a circle. Fortunately, after the wooden door was closed, the resentment pervading around was much less. Shaking, but still curled up, raising his head from time to time to look around in panic.
"Since we can come in, we must be able to get out." Lin Yan comforted everyone, even though he had no idea, "We can't mess up, calm down and think about it, the tomb passage is straight, but we turned a hundred and eighty The degree of bend is back, which is not in line with common sense, even if the so-called materialism does not apply here, strange things cannot happen for no reason."
Lin Yan took out a pen and paper from his bag, raised his head and asked, "You say, under what circumstances do people go around in circles?"
Affected by him, everyone also began to calm down their nervous emotions and concentrate on thinking.
"I don't know the way. When I go to a place I haven't been to, I will come back when I walk. Grandpa said that if I go to the mountains far away, I will be eaten by wolves."
"Maybe the road has changed, not the original one." A Yan said, "But I didn't notice the change just now."
Yin Zhou scratched his head: "Maybe I have hallucinations, thinking that I am walking in a straight line, but it is not at all."
Lin Yan wrote down several possibilities, looked at it for a while, and concluded: "In short, there is a problem with the road, or we have a problem, and there are so many resentments outside that even the skull formation is aroused. Maybe this tunnel is another kind of road. The anti-theft mechanism makes people go and never return."
Xiao Yu pursed his lips and thought for a while, then suddenly pinched Lin Yan's shoulder: "Bricks, bricks and lampstands are all wrong!"
Lin Yan didn't understand for a while, Xiao Yu added: "When I left just now, I noticed the blue bricks on the ground, each piece is exactly the same, the tomb passage was artificially built, even if no one has ever set foot on it for a hundred years, how can there be no difference in the moss on it?"
Everyone was stunned, each recalling the scene in the corridor. Just now, in order to find the joints between the forked roads, every brick was carefully inspected. It was indeed as Xiao Yu said, the difference between bricks and Zhuan was extremely small. Yan also secretly admired the excellent architecture of the Ming Dynasty, but after thinking about it, bricks and stones were originally mass-produced, so it is not surprising that they are similar.
Yin Zhou added: "Yes, I saw a small gap on the edge of one lampstand, and there were several consecutive lampstands. At that time, I thought it was a mark made by a craftsman, so I didn't care."
A Yan suddenly trembled, and said softly: "We, the place we walked just now...is it really a corridor?"
Lin Yan couldn't help shivering. Although he couldn't remember whether the tomb passage was normal when he came here, but recalling it now, every brick and stone was the same, and every lampstand was the same. It is a product of human architecture, rather it is a perfect illusion created. In other words, if the corridor is not a corridor, then where have they been wandering around
Maybe they have been in front of Duan Ze's coffin. The dry bones in the coffin watched them walk around in the same place, with a pair of spiteful and cold eyes, no, not eyes, but two black holes, mocking him, abducting him before he died. lover's thief...
The sense of guilt for no reason made Lin Yan feel chills all over his body. He glanced at the rotten coffin in the middle of the study, forced himself to withdraw his thoughts, and drew a heavy line on the paper with a pen: "If there is something wrong with our senses, then block the senses. If you do it again, won't it be affected?"
As soon as the words fell, the study door slammed open.
"What?" Yin Zhou screamed, the rotten wooden door seemed to be blown by the wind, creaking and shaking, but everyone waited for a long time, no one came in, and there was endless darkness outside the door.
There was a chilly smell mixed with fish in the study, Lin Yan pulled out A Yan's mahogany sword across his chest, boldly walked over and slammed the wooden door, and moved a chair against the door.
The sandalwood chair was extremely heavy, but the things outside the door obviously didn't want to let them go easily, as if being pushed in by a hand continuously, the wooden chair creaked loudly.
"There's no time, we have to go out immediately." Lin Yan frowned, "The man who repaired this tomb is a master at manipulating ghosts, and if we drag it on, it will only get worse."
A Yan pondered for a while, and then suddenly said: "You guys wait here, I, I think there might be something to do with shielding the senses, I'll try walking around with my eyes covered!" As he spoke, he picked up the mahogany sword and was about to go out. Pull him back: "You are too fat, maybe there is more than just ghosts hitting the wall outside now, in case there is anything else..."
There was another bang, and the rotten wooden door couldn't hold back, and was pushed open a thin crack.
Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, Ayan took out a bottle of cinnabar and incense ash, mixed it well and poured it all over the door, and pressed the copper coins on it, the momentum of the wooden door pushing inward was a bit weaker, shaking tremblingly in the dark, and bumped into the chair.
Yin Zhou was angrily: "Fucking mother is still doing this with three melons and two jujubes in the tomb, isn't it uncomfortable to lie here with ghosts every day
"...Wait." Lin Yan suddenly fell silent, staring at Yin Zhou, "You mean three melons and two dates?"
"Is it worthless..."
Lin Yan looked around and suddenly said: "There is a problem with our reasoning!"
"Tomb robbers know that all the funerary objects are in the coffin, and the owner of the tomb should use the most powerful means here to prevent theft, but why is there nothing in the coffin, and even the resentment is much smaller than outside, let's talk about serious tomb robbers How can a thief enter through the main entrance like we do? It’s a robbery hole that hits the top of the coffin, and they won’t pass through the skeleton formation at all!”
Before the words were finished, there seemed to be a sudden wind blowing outside, and the nanmu chair against the door made an unpleasant creaking sound. Everyone suddenly stopped talking and stared nervously at the crumbling wooden door.
Lin Yan suppressed the fear in his heart, tried his best to keep himself calm, and his mind turned quickly: "We have been in a misunderstanding, if it is not the lowering of the head or the mechanism, what if it is artificial? If that person is outside the door, and it has been going smoothly Are you waiting for now?"
"You said it's artificial..." Yin Zhou moved back subconsciously, "Old Taoist priest!"
Xiao Yu kept pressing his fingers against his temples to suppress the influence of resentment, and his pupils gradually clouded. Lin Yan opened his eyes and recognized the faint blue and black hostility on his body. He stretched out his hands to wrap his arms around his waist, Xiao Yu shook his head and pushed Opened him, gritted his teeth and said: "Leave me alone, I won't hurt you, go to the robber's cave, get out of the robber's cave!"
Lin Yan nodded vigorously, pulled out the gun that had been attached to his waist, and the bullet clicked into the bore, and turned his head and said: "I didn't see the robbery hole that the two dead men at the door opened when they came in, it should be right here. In the coffin, let's search separately!"
Everyone acted independently like clockwork. This coffin room is not big or small, because there are antique shelves, bookshelves and other things, it looks more like a private house, so every corner may Hiding the entrance of the cave, everyone couldn't help being anxious. When flipping through the interior furnishings, the tables and shelves slammed and slammed, and the sound of the wooden door hitting the back of the chair and the creaking of the chair legs on the ground made it a mess for a while. .
Seeing everyone's rough actions, Xiao Yu had a trace of sadness in his eyes. Lin Yan was pushing away a shelf of ancient books, and the thread-bound fragments were scattered all over the floor. When he turned around and saw Xiao Yu's appearance, he took the time to pinch his waist: " Don't follow him, go and accompany him, we won't come back in the future."
"It's important to be alive." Xiao Yu came back to his senses, shook his head and said, "I always feel like I've forgotten something, something very important, just a little bit."
The chair behind the wooden door creaked and moved back an inch, the door gap was wider, black mist-like resentment seeped in, A Yan was digging under the bookshelf to search, was suffocated by the smell of fish, and kicked his ass Sitting on the ground, hugging your knees and shaking slightly.
"This way!" A Yan called out from the small stone room, "You, come and see!"
Everyone rushed in. The small stone room connected with the coffin chamber was not well furnished, and the head could be seen at a glance. The coffin lid had been removed. A Yan was carefully inspecting the inner wall of the coffin. When she saw everyone entering the door, she pointed to the coffin lid and said, "Inside , there are words in it!"
The golden nanmu coffin was large and heavy. The coffin lid was two feet deep and arched. The vertical part of the lid was engraved with small characters. The lines of regular script were neat and elegant. The two names "Yu" and "Duan Ze" are difficult to understand in classical Chinese and traditional Chinese characters. If you scan ten lines at a glance, regardless of the content, the two names appear quite a lot.
"This seems...a biographical event?" A Yan hesitated, seeing Xiao Yu and Lin Yan's serious expressions, she consciously backed away from the coffin.
"In the eighteenth year of Chenghua, in the summer of May, on the thirteenth day of the fifth month, my uncle had a new funeral. My aunt and cousin Xiao Yu came to Duanzhai in Jinyang from Pingyao. In the living room, we had a very happy conversation, the first meeting of the husband, the three lives are lucky... "
As Lin Yan read the lines, he felt buzzing in his ears, and he felt drowsy. The surrounding air formed a dense wall of leaden gray to wrap him layer by layer, and the deduction was all about that year. The stream was tinkling with raindrops, a few fishes were swimming by the rocks, and the prince in white clothes under the pavilion was fluttering, and he raised half-que words casually. The grass is luxuriant, an egret has turned a big bend, and the leisurely time by the bridge...
Why doesn't Xiao Lang take a look at me? In your eyes, Han'er is really so unbearable
The memory engulfed in the words makes people burn all inside in an instant. This coffin filled with the fragrance of nanmu, he faintly reunited with that ancient lover. Lin Yan was so shocked that he couldn't say a word, as if he had been struck by a thunderbolt, shocked The three souls and seven souls are not complete, he lost the memory in the prehistoric, wearing clogs to shelter from the rain, wrapped in a coir raincoat, wandering looking for him!
He couldn't hear the sound of the door outside, he couldn't hear Yin Zhou's voice, he couldn't meet Xiao Yu's eyes in the desolate late summer, he was alone, thinking blankly of the sad story that had been silent for a hundred years in time , an obsession that will last forever, a blood-stained murder, when he looked up again, it seemed uncontrollable, and unstoppable tears flowed all over his face.
"I remembered..." Lin Yan held the edge of the coffin tightly with both hands, looked up at Yin Zhou, choked up and laughed, "What Duan Ze, Lin Yan, we are one person, the same soul! All the sins he did, all the debts he owed, I have to pay for it... "
Seeing that Lin Yan was crying, laughing and laughing like a madman, Yin Zhou was startled and pulled him to wake him up. What's wrong with you? coffin, said hoarsely: "I haven't forgotten who I am, I just remembered everything, Ah Zhou, do you look at this coffin? I made it myself. It cost 70,000 taels of silver and invited 300 craftsmen to collect it from the mountains in southern Xinjiang. A coffin for myself!"
"You are crazy, what nonsense, hurry home with me and don't stay in this ghost place!" Yin Zhou said anxiously.
Lin Yan was unmoved, turned his head and said with a horrified smile: "We were wrong, we have been wrong all along, don't believe in ghosts, ghosts only remember what they want, ghosts who died unjustly have resentment, and they can only be washed away by chasing their souls. Jing is full of viciousness, escaped from the city of death..."
"You know what he meant when he said to me, 'I want you dead'?"
Yin Zhou was infected by the weird atmosphere, and became nervous: "What?"
Lin Yan said with a smile: "What a ghost marriage, what worship, he didn't come back to the world for love at all! Xiao Yu was murdered by someone, and died in a miserable state, with red gauze eyes, red strings tied to his feet, the willow tree cursed him to death, A famous Feng Shui master chose a dark place, sealed the coffin with sixty-four steel nails, and recited a mantra every time he smashed one, he would be trapped for a hundred years and turned into a ghost, and he would never be reborn, he came for revenge!"
Yin Zhou couldn't come back to his senses for a long time, turned his head and looked, Xiao Yu had disappeared. In this dark stone room, the flickering glint of the miner's lamp shone on Lin Yan's distorted face. He smiled and said, "You know it's Who hurt him?"
"...who?" Yin Zhou took a step back, his expression changed drastically.
"Duan Ze, Duan Yihan." Lin Yan supported the coffin and knelt heavily.
In the summer of the eighteenth year of Chenghua, May thirteenth.
Jinyang.