As before, while faces weren’t clear, outlines were still visible.
This “person’s” head shape wasn’t quite right—pointed at both ends, like an olive pit.
Yan Tuo’s heart jumped. Without time to think, he reversed his gun and brought the stock down hard on the figure’s head with all his strength.
Nie Jiuluo was caught off guard and nearly cried out “Ah!”, but managed to stifle it.
The impact made quite a noise—if it hadn’t killed the figure, it had at least knocked it unconscious. The sound startled those inside, and Xiong Hei called out in a low voice: “Who’s there?”
Yan Tuo quickly gripped Nie Jiuluo’s arm and squeezed it, while listening to the surroundings: fortunately, there was just this one—among all the terracotta figures, just this single one.
Xiong Hei approached while questioning, shining a flashlight set to its lowest setting, likely afraid of attracting the White Pupil Demons’ attention. Yan Tuo gently pushed Nie Jiuluo into the shadows and stepped forward, saying: “It’s me.”
Nie Jiuluo guessed Yan Tuo’s intention and curled up in the darkness, using the weak light to get a clear look at the fallen creature.
It must have been a Di Xiao, with a face somewhat resembling a grasshopper, but a body similar to the terracotta figures.
A chill ran through her: she had been careless, underestimating Lin Xirou. She had assumed everything standing still was a terracotta figure, never expecting Lin Xirou to have arranged such a creature to blend in and keep watch.
When Xiong Hei first heard Yan Tuo’s voice, he could hardly believe it. Only when the light beam illuminated the face did he confirm it was him, and he didn’t know how to greet him: “You…”
Yan Tuo laughed and strode forward with his gun: “Brother Xiong, long time no see.”
Xiong Hei’s body tensed as he immediately raised his gun: “Don’t come closer!”
Yan Tuo complied, truly stopping in place.
Nie Jiuluo didn’t dare breathe, watching in the dim light.
She had only heard of these people but could match most of them: Xiong Hei was truly like an iron tower, his face broad, shoulders wide, and waist thick—just standing there, he was one or two sizes larger than Yan Tuo. Feng Mi, with the bloody patch on her scalp, was very young and looked clever. The young woman in a short jacket and ankle-tied boots, with loosely-tied long hair, must be Lin Xirou…
There was another woman who appeared to be in her fifties or sixties, hunched over and looking sickly…
She remembered from Yan Tuo’s Excel spreadsheet—this was Li Yueying.
The group was quite complete.
Xiong Hei remained vigilant: “Why are you here?”
Yan Tuo said: “I came by invitation, didn’t I? Who knew we’d run into White Pupil Demons on the way? I tumbled and crawled here to escape, and what luck—I’ve run into old acquaintances.”
While speaking, he pointed at Xiong Hei’s flashlight: “Brother Xiong, could you turn that off? Aren’t you afraid of attracting those things back here?”
Xiong Hei cupped his hand around the flashlight’s head, letting only a sliver of light through his fingers: “Are you alone?”
“Of course, I didn’t come alone. We were many at first, but when we fled for our lives, everyone scattered. Who knows where they all ran to.”
After saying this, Yan Tuo bent down, grabbed one of Di Xiao’s legs, and dragged it inside like a dead dog.
Xiong Hei instinctively stepped back, still wary: “Don’t move!”
Yan Tuo gave a cold laugh, his tone turning threatening: “Brother Xiong, given the situation, regardless of our grudges, can’t we call a temporary truce? The White Pupil Demons could be nearby. We’re all trying to hide and survive. If you won’t accept me, we can have a gun battle, shouting and fighting until we attract them—we can all play together then.”
Only now did Lin Xirou speak, her tone neutral, showing no emotion: “Xiong Hei, turn off the light and come back. Leave him be.”
Yan Tuo smiled: “Aunt Lin truly sees the bigger picture.”
He pushed the Di Xiao forward: “Sorry, I was a bit heavy-handed earlier. See if you can still treat it.”
Xiong Hei was full of suppressed anger, but after Lin Xirou’s words, he couldn’t say much. He could only turn off the light and grab Di Xiao’s leg, walking back toward Lin Xirou.
Yan Tuo let out a long breath and sat down in a spot with good back support, facing toward Lin Xirou’s direction.
Nie Jiuluo’s tense heart finally relaxed. She rested her forehead against a terracotta figure’s leg, only now realizing her back was cold and her legs were cramping from squatting.
She changed positions with minimal movement.
After a brief silence, Lin Xirou spoke first: “Yan Tuo, where are our people?”
Yan Tuo: “You mean Chen Fu and the others? Don’t know, probably scattered by the White Pupil Demons. In that situation, you can’t even look after your companions, let alone Di Xiao. Aunt Lin, where are our people?”
Lin Xirou replied flatly: “The same—scattered, couldn’t look after them.”
Yan Tuo had guessed as much. After a pause, he added: “By the way, on the way here, we saw Yang Zheng’s corpse. Hole in his head—probably beyond saving. Just letting you know.”
After these words, the area fell into brief silence. Finally, Li Yueying gave a strange laugh: “Who would have thought he’d die before me?”
Feng Mi snapped harshly: “Shut up!”
Nie Jiuluo didn’t know Li Yueying’s history but sensed her relationship with the other Di Xiao was quite complex.
Yan Tuo spoke again, his volume low as if making casual conversation: “Aunt Lin, these White Pupil Demons are Xiaoguei, aren’t they?”
Lin Xirou didn’t want to engage with him. Yan Tuo didn’t mind and continued chatting shamelessly, trying to extract whatever information he could—even if Lin Xirou let slip just a few words, it would be useful information, helpful to him one way or another.
“They look quite human-like, except for those strange eyeballs—stark white and glowing. I saw some with white hair too, must be old… quite long-lived, aren’t they…”
Despite the tense situation, Nie Jiuluo could barely suppress a laugh at Yan Tuo’s behavior. He was rambling now, like Tang Sanzang with his endless chatter.
“The soil and water down here must be pretty good, seems nourishing. How old do you think they are? Must be over a hundred, right? And they don’t even need canes—those backs and legs…”
Xiong Hei held back as long as he could before exploding: “Does your mouth need stitching? How am I supposed to listen for movement outside with you yammering on?”
Yan Tuo made an “oh” sound and stopped talking. Xiong Hei thought he had gotten the message, but after just a few seconds of blessed silence, Yan Tuo started again: “Well, I have questions, and since you won’t answer them, I can’t help myself—I just have to ask.”
Xiong Hei was nearly driven to violence when Feng Mi cut in: “Look, Xiaoguei are Xiaoguei, but White Pupil Demons are even higher level—they’re like… apex predators down here.”
Holy shit—Xiaoguei and White Pupil Demons weren’t in the same category?
Nie Jiuluo’s heart skipped: Apex predators—that didn’t sound good at all.
Yan Tuo, finally getting a response, quickly pressed on: “Are White Pupil Demons… native to underground?”
Before Feng Mi could answer, Lin Xirou gave a cold laugh: “Native? They’re all products of what you humans did.”
Good—Lin Xirou was finally engaging.
Yan Tuo forgot about investigating the White Pupil Demons and blurted out: “Xinxin isn’t actually in your hands, is she?”
Lin Xirou was silent for a moment before finally speaking: “No, but she’s down here. Either she’s become a Xiaoguei, or she was torn apart and eaten, turned to waste long ago. I don’t know.”
Though this answer was somewhat expected, Yan Tuo still felt rage burning up in his chest. He forcibly suppressed it and spat through clenched teeth: “You threw such a young girl into a place like this?”
They were getting into the conversation now—didn’t they know danger lurked outside? Xiong Hei had too much to say but couldn’t interrupt. He could only pull at Feng Mi: “Go up and keep watch.”
Feng Mi understood his meaning: they needed someone on the lookout, or else everyone would be chatting while enemies approached unnoticed.
She made an affirming sound and nimbly climbed the nearest stone pillar in a few moves. She lay prone at the top, her hands exploring beside her head, like an alert wildcat.
Nie Jiuluo noticed Feng Mi’s movement and imperceptibly pressed closer to the terracotta figure, almost becoming one with it in the darkness.
Lin Xirou remained composed: “Don’t blame me for this. If you want to blame someone, blame that mother of yours.”
“She electrocuted me, and I didn’t hold it against her. When she wanted to leave, I didn’t do anything except take Yan Xin to be raised by others. I was very clear with her—behave yourself, don’t cause trouble, and you can see your daughter again—wasn’t that generous enough?”
“But she didn’t take it seriously. Can you blame me? My patience has limits. She wanted to crush me to paste with a concrete slab—if it were you, could you endure that? Don’t blame me for taking it out on your sister either. She looks exactly like your mother—same eyes, same nose. Just looking at her makes me angry.”
As she spoke, her voice gradually filled with malice: “Oh, right, do you know how your mother met her fate?”
Yan Tuo sat motionless, his hand gripping the gun trembling slightly and sweating.
He didn’t know. After his mother left her final diary entry, she never returned. He had always wondered: his mother intended to crush Lin Xirou with a concrete slab, so why did she end up completely paralyzed and unconscious instead? Had her plan been exposed?
Lin Xirou’s voice was both cold and playful: “She went to great lengths, thinking of using a concrete slab to crush me to death. Those slabs were so heavy—she had the spirit of Yu Gong moving mountains, prying and moving them again and again until she could lift and drop them by herself.”
“But she was so stupid. What are the chances of someone passing below being crushed when a concrete slab falls from above? At most, they’d be injured. But I’m not human—I’m not that slow. Getting electrocuted was an accident; surely I wouldn’t be that unlucky every time?”
“I remember that day, the construction workers had given me a large gift box to thank me for giving them work. When the concrete slab fell, I was already alert. You know how fast we are—I found the gift box cumbersome, so I dropped it and darted to the side.”
“Construction sites are dusty—when the concrete slab crashed down, it raised a dust cloud like a small mushroom. Your mother was so excited, rushing down to see the results. When I saw her coming down, I knew she was behind it.”
“But I didn’t make a sound or let her see me. When she came down, I went up. I remembered which floor the concrete slab had fallen from and quickly found it. Well, well—there wasn’t just one concrete slab piled up there.”
“I peered down from above. The gift box was crushed under the concrete slab, with just one corner visible. Your mother was hovering there, head down, probably thinking I had been flattened along with the gift box. She was so happy—I could hear her laughing.”
“I wedged the crowbar under the edge of one of the concrete slabs. Now, I should have dropped a slab right then, while your mother was at her happiest. But I didn’t. She made me unhappy, so I didn’t want to let her die happy.”
“I called out to her. I said, ‘Lin Xirou.'”
“She was too excited to recognize my voice, too caught up to realize what was happening. When she looked up, she was still smiling.”