Chapter 38 The Truth

I was so focused on the corpse’s ID card that Lao Yang’s sudden question startled me. Once I calmed down, I gave him a vague answer and continued to look at the thing in my hand.

Based on the entries in this short diary, this man had come here three years ago. That was around the same time that Lao Yang and his cousin had first come here. Could this man have been with Lao Yang at that time? After thinking about it, I felt that it was unlikely. Although the things written in this diary were somewhat consistent with Lao Yang’s story, most of it was still different. So, this meant that there must’ve been two groups of people.

But for some reason, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the name “Xie Ziyang” sounded very familiar. Xie was a relatively uncommon surname, so there shouldn’t be many people with it. Where had I heard it before?

I tried to recall carefully, but too many strange things had happened recently so my brain wasn’t working as well as it normally did and I couldn’t think clearly.

I kept going through his things, but I didn’t find anything else so I tucked his diary into my own bag. This way, I could take a closer look at it later.

Lao Yang, seeing me squatting there without saying anything, thought that something had happened to me and called out to me again. I glanced back and found that he had half of his face pressed into the small gap between the rocks and his eyes were straining to see what was in my hand. But I was in a blind spot because of the rock, so I could see him but he couldn’t see me. As I looked at him, I couldn’t help but think that he looked a little weird, as if he was dying to get in here.

I cursed to myself. You didn’t want to come in even when we were about to die earlier. What, are you regretting it now? Out loud, I said, “Don’t kick up such a fuss. I found something interesting and am looking at it.”

Lao Yang frowned and quickly asked, “What did you find?”

I told him the story of how I had found the body just now. Once I was done, I sighed and said, “We might just end up like this guy. If we can’t find a way out, I’m afraid we’ll die faster than him. But I think this guy’s name sounds familiar. Do you remember any classmates with this name when we were younger?”

As I spoke, I moved to the edge of the rock, trying to show him the ID card through the gap. But when I looked up, I suddenly saw that his face was ghostly pale and he had an intense look in his eyes as he stared straight at me.

I suddenly had a strange feeling. What’s wrong? I wondered. Why does he look like this all of a sudden? Did we really have a classmate named Xie Ziyang when we were younger?

I closed my eyes and thought about it again, but I really couldn’t remember. My relationships with others had weakened over time to the point where I didn’t even recognize some of my college classmates anymore, let alone those from my childhood. Noticing that Lao Yang remained silent, I looked down at the ID card in my hand and said, “I really can’t remember, but this man is the same age as us—”

As soon as I said this, I seemed to have an epiphany that left me frozen in shock.

Xie Ziyang, Xie Ziyang, Xie Ziyang, Xie Ziyang!

This name didn’t seem to belong to a stranger—it was Lao Yang’s real name!

All of my hair stood on end and I felt like I had been doused in cold water. I quickly looked at the birthday on the ID card and couldn’t help but feel dizzy as soon as I saw it. My God, it really was Lao Yang’s birthday! But this… this was impossible! Did this ID card really belong to Lao Yang?

So, this corpse that had rotted into bones was Lao Yang…

But that couldn’t be right. If Lao Yang had died here three years ago, then who was looking at me from the other side of this rock?

I felt my neck stiffen as I turned my head almost mechanically to look behind me. When I saw the half of that face peeking through the gap in the rock, I suddenly felt an indescribable fear—Lao Yang’s face looked eerie under the flashlight’s beam, as if it were surrounded by a ghostly aura. In fact, it looked a bit similar to the giant black snake we saw outside.

I involuntarily retreated further inside the cave, too afraid to stand close to the rock now. But Lao Yang remained motionless and just continued to stare at me with that intense look in his eyes. I didn’t speak either and just stood there like a stone statue.

Knowing his temperament, he’d definitely start scolding me and calling me names when he saw me acting like this, but he didn’t do anything at all. Was it because his identity had been revealed and he didn’t know how to react?

At this time, I became more and more suspicious. Although the man outside was the same as Lao Yang in both appearance and temperament, he might not actually be Lao Yang. Our journey from Hangzhou to here suddenly flashed through my mind like a movie. All the lies, the vague hints, and what he said to me at the top of the bronze tree played vividly in my mind, and the doubts that had been accumulating little by little gradually became clear.

I never believed that Lao Yang could be so manipulative. First, I didn’t see the point in him lying to me because of my relationship with him; second, those lies he told all seemed so believable that if I wasn’t so cautious, I wouldn’t have discovered them at all. But in all other aspects, this person was too similar to Lao Yang. I couldn’t find any flaws at all. Even though I had all kinds of doubts, I simply thought that his character had changed over the past three years. It never even crossed my mind that he wasn’t Lao Yang at all.

At this time, “Lao Yang” moved away from the gap and finally spoke, “Old Wu, I told you not to go in just now, but you wouldn’t listen. You can only blame yourself for being so stubborn. Haven’t you heard that saying: there are some things you’re better off not knowing?”

My heart thumped as I realized that there really was something wrong here. While trying to keep my voice from shaking, I said to him, “You’re not Lao Yang…who the hell are you?”

The fake Lao Yang laughed strangely and said, “Who am I? I’m Lao Yang, Xie Ziyang, the guy you grew up with. I even spent three years in prison. If you don’t believe me, you can check my criminal record!”

I sneered, “Bullshit! Lao Yang’s body is right here next to me. It’s been three years since he died. He didn’t go to prison at all. Who the hell are you?”

The fake Lao Yang’s smiling face appeared in the gap between the rocks again, “That’s right, he’s been dead for three years. But I’m alive. What’s the difference?”

I looked at his expression and suddenly had a vague premonition. After frowning in thought for a while, I finally realized what it was and felt my mouth drop open in shock. “Shit, you’re not human!” I stammered. “You…did he materialize—”

The fake Lao Yang snorted coldly and said, “Why not say I materialized him? Who knows, huh? I’m exactly the same as him, so who knows which one came first?”

I almost lost it right there. I picked up a rock and threw it at him, but he quickly pulled his face from the gap and said, “Old Wu, I’m exactly the same as him. Don’t get so worked up.”

“Of course there’s a difference!” I shouted at him. “Who knows what the fuck was materialized with that kind of power!”

The fake Lao Yang suddenly fell silent, the expression on his face turning ugly as he stared at me for a while. Then, he suddenly said in a sinister tone, “Quit spouting that fucking bullshit. I am Lao Yang. We’re both cut from the same cloth, so don’t sit there and accuse me otherwise!”

I suddenly had a bad feeling, and sure enough, I saw a gun barrel come in through the gap. I quickly rolled over to a blind spot right as the fake Lao Yang fired—the shot hit a rock and chipped off a large piece of it. Then, the gun immediately aimed at the blind spot where I was, and another shot was fired. The bullet flew past my neck and almost hit me.

This crevice was too small, so even if there was a blind spot, I wouldn’t be able to protect my whole body. When I saw how bad my situation was, I immediately turned off my flashlight so that he wouldn’t be able to see me. In the confusion, he fired several more shots but didn’t manage to hit me. I rolled over to the gap, picked up a rock from among the rubble on the ground, and smashed the barrel of the gun that was poking out of the gap. After hitting it a few times, the barrel was bent at a ninety-degree angle.

The fake Lao Yang, unable to pull it out, started cursing angrily. “How are you the same?” I sneered at him. “The real Lao Yang wouldn’t try to shoot me. You’re just a cheap imitation, you bastard!”

Ever since the fake Lao Yang mentioned materializing a living person, I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that appeared in my heart. After all, it wasn’t like this ancient bronze tree had been built here without a purpose. Could the creatures materialized by this terrifying ability even be considered normal people? Were they really the same as us? Or, were they more like monsters?

Although it wasn’t clear whether this “person” was the same as us or not, he obviously knew that he had been materialized. I didn’t know why, but for some reason, I couldn’t shake the feeling that things were going very, very badly.

The fake Lao Yang and I cursed at each other for a while, before suddenly, he seemed to think of something and stopped talking. Then, he turned off his flashlight. The whole space immediately became pitch black, and endless darkness started pressing in from all sides. In this narrow space with no light, it seemed excruciatingly heavy.

Still wary of any tricks he might pull, I shrunk myself further into the blind spot to hide. “Old Wu,” I suddenly heard him say, “I remember that when you were a kid, you were absolutely terrified of the dark. Are you afraid now? But try not to think about it. Remember what I told you just now—you have to be careful and not let your imagination run wild in this place. Otherwise, when you turn your flashlight on again, you might see a dead man’s face appear in front of you.”

I cursed to myself. Damn it, this guy wants to use my fear of the dark to get me to materialize a monster.

I told myself that I could never let him succeed, but despite my best efforts, I could feel the fear in my heart growing. After hearing his words about seeing a dead man’s face when I turned on the flashlight, I felt as if my nerves were stretched to the limit. Then, I immediately felt as if something appeared in front of me, only a few centimeters away—the hot air I exhaled hit that thing and rushed back into my face, bringing a foul odor with it.

Surely it doesn’t work that fast? I thought to myself. After all, based on the fake Lao Yang’s demonstration just now, it seemed as if this materialization ability was very difficult to control. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have lost so shamefully to the giant black snake just now. Plus, logically speaking, it should be impossible to materialize a monster so easily.

This is all in your head, I said to myself. Don’t be taken in by him. In such a small, enclosed dark room, it’s only natural to feel a bit of fear.

I took a deep breath, but at this time, I suddenly felt a wet sensation on my face, as if something cold had swept past. I immediately broke out in a cold sweat and almost peed my pants. I carefully touched my chest and found that my heart was beating wildly and my whole body suddenly felt weak. Shit, there really is something in here with me!

I dared not turn on my flashlight as I slowly leaned back, trying to cling to the rock wall behind me. But as soon as my back touched it, I found that it wasn’t solid rock but something that felt like…scales. I could even feel muscles moving under the scales.

Oh God, what have I been thinking about?! Why are there scales behind my back? I quickly closed my eyes, clutching my flashlight tightly in my hands. But just as I held it up to my face and got ready to turn it on, I suddenly heard the fake Lao Yang pretend to let out a terrified shout, “Old Wu, why aren’t you turning on your flashlight? Here, I’ll help you!”

Then his flashlight turned on, and I suddenly saw something pressed right up against the tip of my nose—it was a huge python! As it raised its head, I noticed that its coiled body was as thick as a barrel and seemed to fill the entire space. The rocks that had originally been above my head and behind me had all turned into scaly walls as black as gems. Startled by Lao Yang’s flashlight, the scales all around me twitched and started to move, making a frightening rustling sound as they rubbed together.

<Chapter 37><Table of Contents><Chapter 39>