After that “Brother Peng” left, Yan Tuo felt a bit lonely.
He should have kept it around for some small talk. Many people abroad seek out priests for conversations about life before dying, and “Brother Peng” would have been perfect for that role, despite its unsightly appearance.
Bored, Yan Tuo stretched open the empty plastic bag, filling it with air.
Every time they delivered food, it came in plastic bags. After the water pouches were empty, only plastic remained. These bags could be useful – for warmth, garbage collection, making rope, or if airtight, covering one’s face to end it all.
This last one was airtight.
Yan Tuo gripped the bag’s opening, feeling the bulging mass of air within.
When someone truly wants to die, there are quite a few ways.
Next time Lin Xirou comes, she should find his corpse. But how should he die to achieve the most impact and value? Lying peacefully wouldn’t do – he should braid the plastic bags into a thick rope and hang himself facing outward on the iron bars, becoming Lin Xirou’s nightmare.
Would that woman even have nightmares?
Yan Tuo laughed, finding himself absurd and amusing. As the laughter faded, his eyes grew damp – he still had attachments to this world.
But the world no longer cared for him, did it?
A rustling sound came from the tunnel. At first, he thought You Peng had returned, but gradually realized it didn’t sound quite right.
Light filtered in through the eggplant stem-shaped entrance.
Yan Tuo’s mouth went dry as he slowly got up from the ground.
Why was this feeding coming so early? Had the New Year passed, and were they now rushing to deal with him?
The light grew stronger – it was a flashlight beam, almost blinding. After sweeping through the cave, it shone through the bars directly onto him.
Yan Tuo raised his hand to block the light, trying to see through his fingers who had come – was it Lin Xirou, Feng Mi, or Xiong Hei?
But he couldn’t make it out. The beam was aimed almost directly at his eyes, creating a dazzling white blur.
A sudden thought flashed through his mind.
It wasn’t Lin Xirou and the others – they had never shined their lights on him so investigative for such a long time.
Yan Tuo’s heart suddenly began racing as he heard a familiar voice.
“Who… are you?”
***
Who are you?
Yan Tuo wondered if he was dreaming – was this light and this person standing beyond the iron bars real?
He stood motionless, mumbling: “A Luo?”
His throat was dry, his tongue stiff, and his jaw nearly numb. The sound barely escaped, stuck in his throat as if speaking only to himself.
Nie Jiuluo seemed to realize the light was shining directly in his eyes, making it difficult for him to see her. She lowered the flashlight slightly, looking at Yan Tuo with a mix of confusion and wariness: “Who are you?”
A Di Xiao’s companion? No, he was imprisoned.
He was a man, tall but emaciated, with messy hair covering the upper half of his face and an unkempt beard obscuring the lower half, making his features completely unrecognizable.
His clothes were so filthy their original color was indiscernible, and behind him lay a bundle of tattered blankets.
For a moment, she wondered if this could be Yan Tuo, but besides height, there was almost no resemblance.
She couldn’t help asking again: “Who are you?”
Yan Tuo could see her now.
It was Nie Jiuluo.
He had never seen her dressed like this – wearing light black leather armor. Was it warm outside? Her arm was no longer in a sling, her left hand holding the flashlight.
Had all her injuries healed?
And she was wearing a red knit cap, octagonal with a pompom on top.
This couldn’t be a dream – he could only dream of her previous appearance, and even with imagination, he wouldn’t have put a hat on her.
His vision blurred as he called out again: “A Luo?”
This time, Nie Jiuluo finally heard him.
Her legs went weak, and she stumbled back two steps. If her knees hadn’t locked, she might have fallen.
Was this Yan Tuo?
In peaceful times, “starved beyond recognition” was just a phrase from novels to her. She had never imagined seeing it happen before her eyes in real life.
This was Yan Tuo – what had become of him? His complexion was deathly pale, the unnatural white of someone long deprived of sunlight. His entire frame seemed precariously assembled from bones as if a push would topple him.
Tears instantly welled in Nie Jiuluo’s eyes. She quickly cleared her throat and blinked hard several times to suppress the sudden surge of emotion, trying to keep her voice normal: “Are you alright? Have you… been here the whole time?”
Afraid of Yan Tuo seeing her tears, she moved the flashlight beam to the barred door: “Is it locked? This lock…”
Damn, she hadn’t brought the lock gun down.
Nie Jiuluo set down the flashlight, propping it to illuminate the area, then removed her left wrist bracelet, detached the pearl, and tried the pin in the lock.
No good – the lock was too crude and the bracelet too thin.
She thought for a moment, then folded and twisted the bracelet. This way, the two strands combined into one thicker strand, and the folded part created a small hook perfect for catching the lock’s tumblers.
Watching her work, Yan Tuo suddenly snapped out of his daze: “A Luo, quickly hide, there’s a Di Xiao out there.”
In his prison, he was safe, but she was different.
Nie Jiuluo made an affirming sound, the hook still slowly feeling out the tumblers: “I know, it should have gone forward.”
Yan Tuo nearly panicked: “It might come back any moment.”
Nie Jiuluo’s hand slipped, missing the catch. She was sweating too – on her forehead, her back, everywhere.
She let out a breath and glanced back at the exit: the cave’s shape particularly resembled an eggplant, with a narrow, winding passage like a curved stem leading in from the crack, but widening once inside.
She continued working on the lock while keeping her voice low: “It went forward and won’t be back for a while. Just don’t make any loud noises that might attract it. Its eyes and nose aren’t working well right now, so it probably relies more on its ears… How many are down here?”
Yan Tuo’s heart was pounding like a drum. Not daring to look at her, he kept his eyes fixed on the entrance, his voice tight with tension: “I’ve only seen one, probably just the one.”
Just one? That’s good – better than hearing there were seven or eight.
Nie Jiuluo felt something catch – she had it!
She gripped the bracelet and pulled hard downward, hearing a “click” as the lock sprung open.
Nie Jiuluo was overjoyed. The bracelet, after being twisted with such force, looked somewhat misshapen when restored, but that hardly mattered now. She removed the padlock and hurried to unwrap the chains, though her left arm’s weakness made it somewhat slow going.
It was strange that Yan Tuo wasn’t helping – wasn’t he eager to get out?
As Nie Jiuluo undid the chains and the iron door opened, Yan Tuo shuddered and unconsciously stepped back into the darkness.
Nie Jiuluo rushed to Yan Tuo’s side, momentarily at a loss for words, feeling that rather than exchanging pleasantries here, they should get out first and talk once safe.
She instinctively reached for Yan Tuo’s hand: “Quick, let’s go. Any delay will cause trouble.”
Rong Yu should still be waiting to “assist” her, but if they were too late and she left to get reinforcements, that would be problematic – waiting for backup would take at least two or three days. Where would they eat and sleep for those days? Was she supposed to play hide and seek with that Di Xiao down here?
Her grab met empty air as Yan Tuo avoided her.
Nie Jiuluo froze, an ominous feeling rising: “Yan Tuo, were you injured by it?”
Had he already “transformed,” or was he in the process, making him averse to her approach?
Yan Tuo mumbled: “No.”
After a pause, he added softly: “A Luo, I’m too dirty, my hands are covered in sores, you shouldn’t… get dirty.”
Nie Jiuluo’s eyes instantly burned hot, tears threatening again.
She didn’t usually cry, but for some reason, since entering the cave, she kept getting overwhelmed.
Of course, she preferred cleanliness, but at a time like this, being particular about such things seemed overly fastidious.
Nie Jiuluo cleared her throat, forcing a light tone: “It’s not a big deal.”
With that, she reached directly for his hand.
Yan Tuo’s hand curled slightly, avoiding her again.
Nie Jiuluo grew frustrated – she’d already said she didn’t mind, yet this grown man was being so difficult.
She kept her hand extended, refusing to withdraw: “Yan Tuo, if you won’t hold my hand now, don’t ever hold it again, don’t ever get close to me again. Who exactly are you looking down on?”
Yan Tuo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “I’m not…”
How had this become him looking down on someone? Wasn’t she deliberately twisting things?
He hesitated for a moment, then slowly took her left hand.
Nie Jiuluo had intended to pull him along immediately, but at that moment, her feet seemed nailed to the ground, unable to move.
She finally understood why Yan Tuo hadn’t wanted her to take his hand.
His hand was terribly rough, sores layered upon sores. Some areas were broken, had oozed pus, and scabbed over, while others clearly still had open wounds or were growing new flesh – it must hurt terribly when touched.
She didn’t dare move, her hand trembling slightly in his palm as she turned her head away and let two streams of tears fall.
Yan Tuo perhaps knew she didn’t want him to see, so he kept his head down, just squeezing her hand a little and smiling as he said: “It’s nothing, just some blisters from the cold. Everything else is fine – before you came, I was even eating. If you’d come a bit earlier, I’d have had tangerines to share with you.”
Nie Jiuluo ignored him – tangerines in this awful place? What a lie! Why not claim he’d just finished a three-star Michelin meal?
Yan Tuo sensed these words weren’t comforting and fell silent again. After a while, he softly asked: “A Luo, I see your arm isn’t in a sling anymore – has it completely healed?”
Nie Jiuluo sniffed, finally regaining her composure: “No.”
“My left arm can’t use much force, so when I pull you, just walk – don’t make me drag you.”
With that, she tugged slightly toward the barred door: “Let’s go.”
***
The creature had come to the eggplant cave after being injured, so following the blood trail back would surely lead to the large cave near the monkey bag.
Nie Jiuluo gave the flashlight to Yan Tuo to light the way while she gripped her knife and followed behind, occasionally checking their rear.
The mine tunnel was dead silent, both of them tacitly agreeing not to make a sound. Only once during their journey did Yan Tuo ask: “Where is this place?”
Having been imprisoned so long without knowing where he was made Nie Jiuluo’s heartache. She answered softly: “Yu Tang County, your father’s coal mine.”
Yan Tuo nodded, saying nothing more.
How could there be a Di Xiao in his father’s coal mine? It seemed Lin Xirou’s appearance was inextricably linked to this mine.
Had they perhaps dug up Lin Xirou while mining? Lin Xirou had come from Black White Rapids – did this mine have some secret passage leading all the way there?
…
Nie Jiuluo remained highly tense throughout, fearing a sudden encounter at any moment. However, surprisingly, they encountered nothing along the way, following the blood trail back to the bottom of that cave.
Having descended too hurriedly earlier to notice details, she now saw that the cave bottom had four or five mine tunnel entrances. Yan Tuo recalled what Liu Changxi had told him: “Uncle Changxi mentioned that they dug in different directions below, with several teams working separately at first, but eventually connecting the tunnels over time.”
No wonder they hadn’t run into the Di Xiao again – it must have gone into one of the other branches, though it could emerge from any entrance at any time after wandering the maze.
However, this wasn’t the worst part – the worst was that the rope she’d been lowered on was gone!
Nie Jiuluo could hardly believe it – damn Yu Rong… that impatient? Couldn’t she wait a bit? How could she just take the rope?
She was so angry she wanted to shout up above but feared her voice wouldn’t carry and might attract the Di Xiao. She had to grit her teeth and remain silent, setting the flashlight to maximum brightness and flashing signals upward.
Hopefully, Yu Rong hadn’t left and could still see her signals.
In the irregular light, Yan Tuo kept watching the mine tunnel entrances, feeling like the Di Xiao might spring from any of them at any moment…
As he watched, he suddenly noticed movement in the pile of old equipment not far behind Nie Jiuluo.
His heart rate suddenly spiked as he called softly: “A Luo?”
Nie Jiuluo was busy signaling and looked toward him: “Hm?”
Yan Tuo stared at the pile.
Yes, it was moving.
This cave bottom had been the miners’ rest stop when entering and leaving the shaft. They would casually toss equipment they couldn’t easily carry there, and over time it became a habit – used and obsolete equipment all ended up in that pile.
Eventually, it grew into something like a small mound.
Nie Jiuluo read Yan Tuo’s expression, her back going cold. Just as she started to turn to look, there was a crashing sound as something burst out from beneath the equipment pile.
It had been waiting for her.
Of course – why play hide and seek in the mine tunnels? Just guard this “transportation hub” and she would eventually appear, wouldn’t she?