The Second Volume Chapter 4 (Part 1) Fishing in Troubled Waters

  Sandalwood was left with only a quarter. I hurriedly ran up the stone steps, and as I went further up, the stone steps became narrower, at most only two people could walk side by side. The front quickly became congested, the demons and monsters pushed and shoved each other, everyone rushed to get past first. I curiously asked a snake-bodied demon with a human face: "Brother, what's inside the cave? Why are you all running like crazy?"

  The monster glared at me impatiently: "Are you out of your mind? Everyone is trapped in the painting by the Mirage Tower, now that there's a chance to escape, shouldn't we hurry up and run?"

  I was shocked, and before I could ask for clarification, the monster twisted its snake-like waist and let out a hissing sound as it darted forward. I was bewildered, but from the monster's tone, they weren't illusions, but rather, just like me, were living beings trapped inside the painting. Time was of the essence, and I didn't have time to think much, so I hastily squeezed forward.

  In front of a chaotic scene, because the road is narrow and crowded, the demons are eager to pass by, and soon someone bursts into loud curses and fierce fighting. Before long, blood splatters everywhere, and the demons start killing each other.

  Thick blood flowed over the stone steps, and the air was filled with a bloody smell, like a Buddhist hell. More and more demons were killing each other, flesh and blood flying everywhere, corpses littering the ground, and one by one, they turned into stone statues. I was at a loss, these demons had all gone mad, their faces full of frenzy, and in this atmosphere of slaughter, I too became somewhat agitated.

  A gaudy-faced monster suddenly let out a loud roar and pounced on me. I dodged to the side, performed a charming dance, and struck both sides of his temples with my arms. The monster grunted, stumbled, and shot out a sharp thorn from its mouth, which hit my shoulder with a "thud". Fortunately, my Cloud Light Stone Flowing Elixir had reached perfection, so when the thorn pierced my flesh, my body became as hard as cloud stone, and the thorn could only penetrate half an inch into my muscle. I endured the pain, sprang up, and spun around in mid-air, kicking his throat with lightning-fast speed multiple times.

  The monster crashed to the ground, its throat bone cracked open, and fresh blood spurted out like a fountain. Looking at the corpse on the ground, I suddenly felt a thrill in my heart. Killing people is so cool! Who would have thought that I, Lin Fei, would also have a day when I could control others' lives?

  In the chaotic slaughter, several more monsters died under my charming dance. I was killing with great enthusiasm when I inadvertently glanced over and saw that Tanshang had only a short stub left. I froze, looking around, and let out a loud roar. The stone steps were overflowing with blood, and both humans and monsters were like mad beasts, blindly biting and fighting, completely forgetting their original purpose, and instead no one was running forward anymore.

  My fevered brain began to calm down, the cave was a blood-soaked slaughterhouse, but that had nothing to do with me, my goal was just to find the oil lamp.

  I swiftly flew up the stone steps, displaying my charming dance skills, nimbly avoiding each of the Youyao, no longer entangling with them. Just like a decisive withdrawal from the chessboard of slaughter.

  The killings in the cave were getting more and more intense, but I just watched without seeing, treating everything as mere stage props and scenery. In my eyes, the people around me were nothing more than black and white chess pieces entwined with each other, trapped in the game, unable to extricate themselves, losing their true nature. The sounds of slaughter gradually faded away, and I sprinted forward, the long stone steps almost at an end.

  On the highest level of stone steps, a blue lantern flickered with a faint light, and a big fish, like a lonely ghost, held a lantern in its hand, looking down at me from above with a dim gaze.

  "What's with you?" I was startled, and my mind was racing. What trick did Sanzaburou have up his sleeve?

  "I really didn't expect you to be able to come all the way here." The big fish said in surprise, glancing at the sandalwood in my hand, which was still half an inch long.

  I sneered: "Was it Sanzaburou who told you to stop me? Hmph, I knew this kid was all talk and no action, completely untrustworthy!"

  The big fish said faintly: "The master will not speak without faith, the cave has reached its end, and this is the last pass. If you pass through my pass, it will naturally be as you wish." He moved his body away, on the wall of the cave behind her, a stone carving of a giant squid was embedded, with an ancient oil lamp in its wide open mouth.

  My heart skipped a beat, I clenched my fists and rubbed my palms: "You want to fight me? Don't blame me for being ruthless, I'll punch that delicate face of yours until it's swollen!"

  The big fish's face revealed a hint of mystery, and slowly, it picked up the lantern, casting an eerie blue-green light directly on my face. "The final test isn't about fighting you, but rather having you guess a riddle. If you guess correctly, I'll let you light the lamp smoothly. If you guess incorrectly, the incense in your hand will automatically extinguish itself, and you'll never be able to relight this oil lamp again."

  I was taken aback: "Guessing riddles? You're not kidding, are you?"

  "Who has the time to joke with you?" A crisp voice suddenly sounded in my ear, and I blinked, a small fish suddenly appeared beside the big fish, also carrying a blue lantern, looking at me with a cold face.

  "I said suspiciously: 'Then let me guess the riddle quickly, I don't have time to waste with you guys!'"

  "It's simple, guess who is the big fish and who is the small fish between us?" The little fish smiled slyly and suddenly spun around rapidly. At the same moment, the big fish also started spinning quickly. The two figures were like two whirlwinds, dizzyingly entwined together. A moment later, they suddenly separated, and two identical faces appeared in front of me.

  I rubbed my eyes hard, originally the big fish and small fish looked very similar, but the former was a bit older, with an extra mole at the corner of his mouth. The two mermaids in front of me, however, seemed to be carved out of the same mold, not only were their faces identical, but even their height and weight were the same.

  I was stunned, who is the big fish? Who is the small fish? The left or the right one? I couldn't tell them apart anymore. Looking at the two mermaids, a plan formed in my mind, and I coughed and said: "As long as I guess correctly, does that mean I've passed this test?" I remembered that the big fish's voice was slightly hoarser than the small fish's, as long as I could get them to speak, I would be able to tell them apart.

  "That's right," said the mermaid on the left.

  "Your time is running out, guess quickly!" The mermaid on the right continued.

  My heart sank, their voices became identical, how could I tell them apart? The half-inch sandalwood burned slowly and steadily, my anxiety was burning.

  "You can take your time." The mermaid on the left said with a smile, while the mermaid on the right pouted: "Anyway, we're not in a hurry."

  I thought for a moment, and smiled: "Besides looking slowly, can I also touch slowly?" Without waiting for their response, I stretched out my hand to explore, with each hand reaching towards the face of one of the mermaids. In my opinion, the big fish and small fish must have used some kind of magic to confuse my eyes, making them look identical. If I could feel their skin, maybe I could tell the difference between them. The little fish was younger than the big fish, so her skin should be more plump and elastic.

  "Go ahead and touch all you want." The two fish said in unison, not dodging at all, letting my hands land on their faces. I pinched them a bit, the two cheeks were tender and smooth to the touch, feeling completely identical! I didn't believe it, so I touched from their faces to their necks, then from their necks to their soft and fluffy chests, and finally to their cool fish tails. Damn it, still no difference!

  The sandalwood had burned halfway, and I was both suspicious and anxious. If it really didn't work, I could only try my luck, after all, there was a 50% chance of guessing correctly. With a glance, I suddenly discovered that under the reflection of the green lanterns, two human shadows were faintly swaying on the wall of the cave. My heart suddenly shook violently, and I looked at the wall of the cave repeatedly, no mistake, including me, only two human shadows were reflected!

  I was suddenly overjoyed, and took a closer look. One shadow belonged to me, the other shadow belonged to the mermaid on the left, and the mermaid on the right didn't have a shadow at all. At this point, the answer was obvious: the one on the left was the real deal, and the one on the right without a shadow was an imposter! As soon as I thought of this, I blurted out: "The one on the left is——."

  The words stopped at the tip of my tongue, no! My heart skipped a beat. Why should it be that only the big fish has a shadow? Another one, since it's also transformed from a small fish, should also leave a shadow behind. Unless the two mermaids in front of me are actually the same person transformed, so there's only one shadow reflected on the stone wall!

  "Who is that on the left?" The two people asked in unison with sparkling eyes.

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