Chapter 275: Chapter 275: Lamenting that Living Beings Refuse to Turn Back_1
"I don’t see anything abnormal," Zhao Yuansi said, looking at the area at the end of the tunnel, which was illuminated by their lights.
"Your eyes probably can’t see it," Old Zhou said in a low voice, his gaze fixed on the magnetic needle of his Compass. "You all wait here while I figure this out."
At that moment, the needle was no longer pointing in one direction; it was spinning uncontrollably. This meant the force field here was in complete chaos. It was the first time he had ever encountered such a situation. With the needle malfunctioning, he was momentarily at a loss. Where should he even begin to look for the source of the problem? Every stone, every clump of dirt, even every pothole... any of them could be the origin of the anomaly.
"Take a look over here," Su Xuan said, walking toward the tunnel wall.
The engineers quickly aimed their lights over, illuminating a crack just wide enough for a person to squeeze through sideways.
"Huh?"
Everyone was a little surprised. Their lights hadn’t seemed to reach that spot before. How did Su Xuan know there was a crack there?
"Don’t just wander off!" Old Zhou glanced at Su Xuan, seemingly annoyed that he was stealing his thunder. "Everyone needs to listen to me now. Don’t move around, and don’t touch anything in here, uh..."
Even as he spoke, Old Zhou watched Su Xuan turn sideways and slip into the narrow opening.
"Don’t let the boss go in alone! Hurry, follow him!" Zhao Yuansi urged the engineers, who immediately squeezed into the crack after Su Xuan.
"Why is no one following orders? If something goes wrong, don’t you blame me! And don’t you dare think about withholding my fee!" Old Zhou grumbled, curling his lip before following them.
But Old Zhou didn’t know that Su Xuan wasn’t entering the fissure without reason. The lady in red had gone in first, even turning to extend a delicate hand and beckon to him. That was the only reason he had followed.
And Su Xuan’s curiosity was growing stronger. Where exactly was the lady in red leading him? And what would he find there?
The group moved slowly through the fissure. To their surprise, the crack was incredibly deep. It slanted down into the earth, and even after walking for ten minutes, they still hadn’t reached the end. The chill intensified, and touching the walls felt like touching solid ice. The air grew thinner; despite taking deep breaths, they all felt light-headed from the lack of oxygen. Their footsteps became incredibly heavy, as if they were walking with massive stones strapped to their backs. They couldn’t help but speculate that something was wrong with the gravity here.
After another five or six minutes, the fissure ahead suddenly opened up. The light illuminated the bottom, revealing a scene that made everyone gasp in shock.
A stone door was embedded at the end of the crack. And it was half-open.
"How is this possible?"
"Our company just dug this tunnel! The crack should have been made by the explosives. How could there be a stone door here?"
"Did a ghost come in and build it?"
"Then it must be a Ghost Gate!"
The terrified engineers backed away, their lights trembling. The sudden appearance of the stone door was beyond their comprehension. It was like suddenly seeing a stranger in their own home—a stranger who had already been living there for several years.
It was uncanny. It was beyond any scientific explanation.
"I’ll go take a look," Su Xuan said as he saw the woman in red walk through the half-open stone door. He started toward it. "If any of you don’t want to go in, you can stay out here."
"Let’s go, let’s go!"
"The boss isn’t afraid, so what do we have to be afraid of?"
The men hurriedly followed Su Xuan toward the stone door. This was an excellent opportunity for them to show their worth. If they just accompanied Su Xuan on this journey, promotions and raises would come easily.
But they all shared another thought: if they encountered any real danger, they would run away immediately.
Old Zhou hurried to catch up, more afraid of being left behind than anyone.
After all, a one-million-yuan hardship fee was waiting for him. What if Su Xuan stumbled upon the solution by accident? Wouldn’t his fee disappear?
SNAP!
Just as Old Zhou stepped through the stone gate, before he could even get a clear look at the scene behind it, his Compass vibrated violently. Its magnetic needle suddenly shattered, the fragments flying outward.
"The anomaly is in here!" Old Zhou instinctively shouted. Then his eyes widened and his jaw dropped.
It wasn’t just him. With the exception of Su Xuan, everyone was utterly flabbergasted.
In the glow of their lights, they found themselves in a massive, square stone chamber. A huge stone statue sat with its back to them. It looked like a Bodhisattva, which made them feel as if the chamber was actually a stone temple. But that wasn’t the astonishing part.
What was truly shocking were the figures kneeling before the Bodhisattva that sat upside-down.
"It’s our people!" Zhao Yuansi recognized from their clothing that most of the figures were the construction workers who had gone missing.
They were kneeling here. But why? And were they still alive?
"They’re here too..." Su Xuan recognized two other people among the kneeling crowd. It was the couple that had messaged him yesterday, saying they wanted to livestream their exploration of the tunnel to make some extra money. He never thought they would actually come.
The reason he wasn’t as stunned as the others was twofold. Not only was he being protected by the lady in red, but his willpower had also been strengthened by the system, so he could handle such a bizarre scene.
"All of you, stand still. I’ll go check it out," Su Xuan said, taking a deep breath of the thin air before starting toward the kneeling people.
"Don’t... don’t go over there!" Old Zhou suddenly cried out to stop him. "That Bodhisattva is sitting upside-down! Have you ever heard the saying?"
Old Zhou said, emphasizing each word, "Ask why the Bodhisattva sits upside-down, and lament that mortals refuse to turn back!"
"The Bodhisattva is sitting upside-down now to tell us that we must turn back!" he continued, his voice trembling. "We have to leave this place! Otherwise, we’ll end up just like them, kneeling forever until we turn into desiccated corpses!"
His feet were already shuffling backward.
Compared to a million yuan, his life was far more important. He had absolutely no confidence he could handle the bizarre situation here.
HUM!
Just as he began to retreat, a strange humming sound filled the air, seemingly mixed with the chanting of monks.
Upon hearing the sound, everyone’s gaze went vacant. They began to walk forward involuntarily. When they reached the space behind the other kneeling figures, their knees bent, and they too knelt.
Su Xuan was the only exception.
He stood his ground, fists clenched, using his potent willpower to resist the sound’s mesmerizing effect.
CRACK!
CRACK!
The sound of his bones grinding could be heard.
A moment later, an even more eerie scene began to unfold...