Chapter 45: The Grave's Entrance

  It's possible that the tower collapsed too quickly, and the entire sixth floor had merged with the ground. I was walking with one foot deep and one shallow, and I couldn't tell east, south, west or north apart anymore. All I could do was move forward based on my instincts. Generally speaking, when people get lost, they would encounter a "ghost wall", where no matter how you walk, you'll always end up back at the starting point. But I've heard a more scientific explanation, which is that our brains are controlled by the habits of our left and right hands.

  Most people use their right hand for eating and writing. So, after losing direction, the brain naturally leans towards the right side of action, because at this point you are already relying on feeling to move forward, so you basically don't know if you're walking in a straight line or not. Therefore, people tend to walk habitually to the right, taking one step and deviating a little, after a hundred steps they will unconsciously go to the right. This continuous right turn, right turn, becomes circling around, also known as "ghost hitting the wall". So when we get lost, making ourselves consciously lean to the left side can avoid this situation.

  I'm doing the same thing now, muttering the Diamond Sutra with my mouth while leaning my body to the left and walking. It seems like I've come to a big gate again, this should be the old tower gate, right? This gate is still standing intact, but the surrounding walls have all collapsed. I pushed it with my hand, and it was solid, not moving at all. Just as I was thinking of finding another way out, I suddenly thought of the joke about the coffin that couldn't be opened and had to be pushed when entering the first floor. Could this gate also be the same principle?

  The surface is very smooth, without any place to hold on to, and I don't understand how the people who lived here originally opened and closed this door. It should have some mechanism or something, but looking around at these broken stones, even if there was a mechanism, it would be ruined.

  As I was about to dig a hole in the ground under the door, I saw a strange stone statue next to it. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be that weird head from the Western Three Saints. How did it end up here? Accelerating my memory, I recalled that the coffin had indeed kicked it aside with one foot, and later when we were in the mid-air cave, there was a strange object that rolled past us, which inspired us to jump over that area. Could it be that the object back then was this weird head? And the coffin that disappeared earlier went to find this thing. The person who threw this thing away back then was actually 'me' thirty years later. It's all so confusing.

  I quickly went to take this strange head and prepare to study it, but the head seemed to be rooted in the ground, motionless. I wondered if this head was the key to opening the door. I tried turning the head left and right, but there was no response. Feeling a bit discouraged, I angrily slapped the head, and suddenly felt it sink down a little. I immediately applied more force downward, and it actually went down with my strength. At that moment, the large door beside me silently opened without warning. I stood up, ready to take a look at the world behind the door, but as soon as I let go of the head, the door suddenly closed again. What a clever mechanism, it reminded me of a certain scene in Devil's Castle.

  So I moved a big stone, first stepping on it with my foot and then pressing the stone down. As expected, the door no longer closed, I came to the front of the door, shining my flashlight inside, but found that this was a very complete and spacious tunnel, from the outside of the door, there were oil lamps fixed on both sides of the wall, spaced ten meters apart, with a pair of them, under the lamp there was a wild beast with its mouth open, as if it was dripping down the lamp oil.

  I find it strange, if what happened earlier with Pong Pong attacking me was true, wouldn't it be possible that while he was pressing the switch to let the coffin in, an unexpected situation occurred. Pong Pong was controlled by some kind of mysterious power, and the coffin got locked behind this door. Now the only way to understand what happened earlier is to find the coffin.

  But what unexpected situation would arise? I suddenly thought of the white shadow that was illuminated by the flashlight, and Pengpeng also attacked me after I discovered it. Could it be it? Just as I realized but hadn't taken action yet, a huge force struck my back, sending me flying into this tunnel. As I rolled on the ground, fragmented images told me the door was closed, and in the moment the door shut, a white figure floated at the entrance.

  I struggled to push and pull this door, but it was all in vain. I blame myself for not being vigilant enough, and not taking that white shadow seriously, which led to this situation. Now that things have come to this point, I can only move forward, and wait until I find the coffin before dealing with this door again.

  I felt that just now when I got up from the ground, the ground was damp and seemed to be able to spout water at any time. Along with it was a foul smell, perhaps this is what they call the grave smell, previously on the road because the air was very clear did not discover, only in this stifling environment can feel. Perhaps the previous road was just an 'appetizer', now I have really and truly arrived at the 'main course' that is to say, in the so-called tomb passage.