Chapter 19 - A Shock to the Soul

Black smoke billowed from the hole left by the impact, and the area was shrouded in dust that had been kicked up by the collision. The three coughed from the irritation and quickly covered their mouths.

Chen Shaoxian gestured to the other two, pointing to the pocket on the left shoulder of his Tianma Armor. He pulled out a dust mask from it, and upon his reminder, the others hurriedly did the same and put theirs on. Once the dust settled, they removed their masks and spat out the grime from their mouths. Seeing that the cave was still emitting black smoke, they decided to wait until it cleared to investigate further.

The three gathered together, discussing the recent events. Liu Baodong instructed Chen Shaoxian, “Shaoxian, make sure you keep the soul nurturing jade safe. We can’t afford any mishaps; lives are at stake here.”

Chen Shaoxian nodded and securely placed the soul nurturing jade in his inner pocket. Then he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and handed one to each person.

Xiao Zhuang, lighting his cigarette, took a drag and asked, “What exactly was that thing just now?”

Chen Shaoxian explained, “That was a Soul and Spirit inhabited by evil spirits. It had been on the Thousand Souls Stele for too long and got possessed by something unclean, turning it into evil spirits. Fortunately, it only formed a mouth. If it had formed a complete face, even if it returned to several people, they would become utterly deranged.”

Taking another puff, he continued, “We just separated the Soul and Spirit from the Thousand Souls Stele. Those things, having barely found a host, were naturally desperate to resist. But at that moment, with the Thousand Souls Stele blocking it, the thing couldn’t come out. Later, probably due to cracks in the Stele and our forceful extraction of the Soul and Spirit, it managed to break the Stele and burst out. But we heavily damaged it, and it retreated back. Actually, I’m not too worried about it. After all, this is an urban area with a lot of human activity; it can’t come out. And since it was sprinkled with nectar water, it will dissipate over time. What I’m really worried about is what’s underneath. The Soul-Suppressing Stele has fallen and might not be able to contain what’s inside anymore. But since the shell is broken, whatever is inside must have been severely damaged.”

Xiao Zhuang asked, “What exactly is underneath?”

Chen Shaoxian shook his head: “I’m not sure what’s down there either, but I can be certain of two things: first, my great-granduncle wouldn’t have put so much effort into creating the Thousand Souls Garden for nothing. Second, the person behind this wouldn’t waste so much energy on something trivial. I’ll go down and take a look; you guys keep watch from above.”

“No way, we don’t know what’s down there. What if it’s dangerous?” Liu Baodong immediately rejected Chen Shaoxian’s suggestion.

Chen Shaoxian responded to Liu Baodong, “That’s exactly why we need to go down and check it out. Besides, I’ll be careful, and with all these weapons, there shouldn’t be too much trouble. If we ignore it and something harmful is down there, we would be the most to blame.”

Liu Baodong, somewhat persuaded by Chen Shaoxian, thought for a moment and then said, “I’ll go down with you, and Xiao Zhuang stays outside.”

Xiao Zhuang interrupted, “I should go down with Shaoxian. We’re both quite skilled, and it would be good to have each other’s back.”

After hearing this, Liu Baodong was hesitant, and a standoff ensued as both insisted on going down.

Chen Shaoxian chuckled and pulled them both aside, saying, “Stop arguing, let’s listen to Uncle Liu. Xiao Zhuang, you stay up here. Set a time, and if we don’t come back by then, call the police. I know you have some connections there, which might make our rescue less complicated.” Both nodded in agreement after hearing Chen Shaoxian’s plan. After discussing the details, they approached the top of the cave.

While the three were talking, no more smoke or dust was coming out of the cave. They reached the cave entrance, and Chen Shaoxian was about to look inside when Xiao Zhuang stopped him, saying, “Let me do it.”

Xiao Zhuang waved his hand in the air at the entrance and then sniffed it, detecting no smell of marsh gas or other flammable gases. He then asked Chen Shaoxian for a lighter, lit it at the cave entrance, and watched as the flame started puffing from the wind. He turned to the others and said, “Let’s wait a bit longer until the air circulates back in, and there’s enough oxygen to go down.”

After waiting a while longer, Xiao Zhuang took a branch, attached a piece of clothing to it, pulled out a bottle of baijiu from his bag, and made a makeshift torch. He lit it and threw it into the cave.

The torch did not go out when it fell into the cave. Through the light emitted by the torch, they saw that the cave’s floor was very flat. Xiao Zhuang told the others it was safe to go down.

Chen Shaoxian gave Xiao Zhuang a thumbs up and said, “I didn’t see it coming, Xiao Zhuang, you’ve got some skills.  Now let me show you what we can do.” After that, the two began to prepare.

They clipped their flashlights to their waists and put on goggles.

From their bags, they took out four glass balls, the same kind Liu Baodong had used to smash the evil spirits, and hung them on either side of their belts. They also pulled several packets of stuff from their bags and stuffed them into the pockets of the Tianma Armor, took several sips of glutinous rice water, and donned a pair of gloves.

After a thorough check to ensure nothing was amiss, they took out a new magic rope, found a thick tree to securely tie it to, and threw the other end into the cave. Taking advantage of the still-burning torch below, Liu Baodong led the way with Chen Shaoxian following as they slid down the magic rope into the cave.

Halfway down, Chen Shaoxian suddenly heard a chuckling sound from above. At first, he thought it was Xiao Zhuang, but the hoarse voice didn’t sound like Xiao Zhuang’s laugh. He looked up sharply and saw Xiao Zhuang watching him and Liu Baodong, with a woman in a cheongsam crouched behind him. Her face was dark and indistinct, and she was blowing on Xiao Zhuang’s back while chuckling. Moreover, Xiao Zhuang seemed unaware of the “person” beside him. Xiao Zhuang’s hair was messy, possibly from her blowing or the earlier wind. Just as Chen was about to shout a warning, he reached the bottom of the cave, and when he looked up again, the woman had disappeared.

Although there was plenty of oxygen at the bottom of the cave, there was a pungent smell of something burning. Chen Shaoxian shook his flashlight at Xiao Zhuang, who looked back at him. Chen then pointed at Xiao Zhuang, and then at his own shoulders and head, making a bottle shape with his hands. The gesture meant for Xiao Zhuang to reapply and light the Three Yang Lights on his head and shoulders. Seeing Xiao Zhuang smile back at him gave Chen some reassurance, but he still felt something was off.

Liu Baodong asked, “Shaoxian, what are you doing?”

“Oh, nothing, just having Xiao Zhuang light his Three Yang Lights again,” Chen Shaoxian replied. Liu Baodong nodded and said no more, the awful smell at the bottom of the cave made it torturous even to breathe, let alone talk.

Chen Shaoxian surveyed the surroundings, but the light from the torch was limited. Aside from a small area nearby that was clearly visible, the rest remained engulfed in darkness.

There was a distinct divide between light and shadow, as if Chen Shaoxian and his companion were in the realm of the living, while the areas the torchlight couldn’t reach belonged to the chilling domain of Yincao¹.

Using a flashlight, they scanned the area, but its beam was short. The two fumbled forward, thankfully the ground was fairly even and without pits, allowing for quicker movement.

Suddenly, Chen Shaoxian heard footsteps from behind and grabbed Liu Baodong. Shining the flashlight backward, as the footsteps drew closer, a figure emerged in the beam of light-it was Xiao Zhuang. Chen felt a bit relieved and asked, “How did you get down here?”

“Didn’t you guys call me down?” Xiao Zhuang replied, puzzled.

The three exchanged glances, and Chen Shaoxian’s heart sank as he muttered, “This is bad.” He quickly urged them to run towards the entrance of the cave.

Reaching the spot where they had initially landed, they looked with the aid of the torchlight and, sure enough, the magic rope was severed. Upon examining the cleanly cut ends of the rope, it was evident it had been sliced with a knife. Recalling the scene he had just witnessed, Chen realized something was amiss-Xiao Zhuang wasn’t wearing his cap, and a sense of alarm raised goosebumps on Chen’s skin as he shouted in desperation, “Uncle Liu, be careful of Xiao Zhuang!”

However, a scream followed from behind, the voice was Liu Baodong’s. Then, they heard a mocking laughter, identical to the one Chen Shaoxian had heard moments earlier.

Footnote:

1. Yincao(阴曹):“Yincao” is a term in Chinese mythology referring to the underworld or the realm of the dead, often depicted as a place where souls go after death for judgment.