Chapter 9: Faceless

The man in the black jacket wore a complicated expression as he urged me, "Be careful in everything." I nodded, then lit a torch and walked off in the opposite direction from them.

After a few steps, I heard the footsteps of the black jacket and Ma Xu receding into the distance. I knew they had set off, and I hoped we would successfully find Zhao Zhiqiang and then meet up here.

Holding the torch aloft, I moved forward cautiously.

"Brother!" Suddenly, it sounded as though someone was calling me.

I stopped at once, scanning my surroundings. In the pitch-black corridor, there was no one—only myself.

"Was that just my imagination?" I wondered, but deep down, a voice told me I was certain I had not misheard. I instinctively became alert.

I had barely walked a few more steps when again, I heard, "Brother!"

This time, I was sure. I had not misheard—absolutely certain! Instantly, the hair on my neck stood up and a shiver ran through me.

"Who’s there? Stop pretending to be a ghost!" Though I suspected it was likely some unclean thing, my first reaction was to treat it as a person. In a tomb like this, the greatest danger is frightening oneself.

My words were met with silence, as if they had sunk into the abyss—no reply at all. It was as if the conversation had been a hallucination. But I knew it was real.

"Damn it, whatever happens, finding Zhao Zhiqiang is most important." I gritted my teeth. Though I had only recently met Zhao Zhiqiang and his companions, venturing into a tomb together made us brothers in life and death. I could never abandon him.

So I quickened my pace, intent on finding Zhao Zhiqiang.

Just then, suddenly, a dark shadow flashed before my eyes. At first, I thought I was seeing things, but the shadow drifted slowly right in front of me.

I knew things had taken a turn for the worse; I had encountered something unclean. Quickly, I drew a talisman, pinching it between two fingers.

"Brother!" The shadow suddenly spoke. The voice sounded oddly familiar—wasn’t that Zhao Zhiqiang’s voice?!

A startling conclusion surfaced in my mind: This shadow was Zhao Zhiqiang!

---

Although I thought so, I did not jump to conclusions. I probed, asking the shadow,

"Who are you?" I narrowed my eyes, staring intently at the shadow.

Hearing my question, the shadow seemed agitated, its voice trembling as if about to cry, "I—I am Zhao Zhiqiang!"

As I suspected, I had not guessed wrong. But I would not trust him easily. This tomb was exceedingly strange, its traps cunning; I couldn’t rule out the possibility that this was some trick of the tomb’s master.

"You say you’re Zhao Zhiqiang—what proof do you have?" I furrowed my brows, purposely making things difficult. Without solid evidence, I could not confirm his identity.

The shadow sobbed, pleading, "Brother, don’t you recognize my voice? Earlier in the corridor, you solved the traps and helped us—have you forgotten?"

Hearing this, I gradually relaxed my guard. Then I asked in a deep voice, "Do you know what you look like now?"

Zhao Zhiqiang nodded, his tone sorrowful. "It’s strange, really. I followed a maid, and suddenly she attacked me. We tangled, and I thought at most I’d be injured, but I never expected—"

"You said you followed a maid?" Hearing the word "maid," my eyes widened, staring hard at Zhao Zhiqiang.

Now, he was neither human nor ghost, only a pitch-black shadow. I could not see his face or expression.

"Yes, a maid. What is it, brother? Is something wrong?" Zhao Zhiqiang seemed puzzled by my shock.

I tried to remain calm, replying evenly, "This maid walked out of a mural."

"What?" Zhao Zhiqiang was stunned. Though I couldn’t see his face, his voice betrayed his shock.

"Ma Xu saw it with his own eyes. He took a brush from the mural, and the maid walked out. After that, you disappeared." I briefly explained what had happened. The strangeness of it all far exceeded my imagination.

But right now, the most urgent task was to bring Zhao Zhiqiang back, and together we could figure out how to restore him. One thing puzzled me: how had Zhao Zhiqiang come to be this way?

Zhao Zhiqiang hesitated, then slowly approached me. He was now just a shadow, drifting toward me like a specter; I could feel the heavy, ominous aura emanating from him.

---

"Tell me, what exactly happened?" I finally couldn’t help myself and asked Zhao Zhiqiang. My curiosity was overwhelming. I rarely took charge, but following my father, I had witnessed many strange things—never anything as bizarre as this.

Zhao Zhiqiang began to recount what happened, his voice still trembling. "I remember seeing a maid walk past me. I don’t know why, but I felt compelled to follow her. I wanted to find out what was going on. As I walked, I lost sight of you all. I steeled myself and kept following her."

He stopped suddenly, his body shaking, but I could sense his effort to control his emotions.

"Later, the maid turned around." Zhao Zhiqiang’s voice shook more and more, as if he were terrified.

"So, was there anything special about her?" I was losing patience and pressed him.

Zhao Zhiqiang’s voice trembled to the extreme, as he struggled to enunciate clearly, "She—her face had no features."

"You—what did you say?" I was startled by his words. It seemed clear now that the maid was indeed something unclean.

"Yes, I remember it clearly. The maid had no features." Zhao Zhiqiang was slowly calming down, but his fear was still palpable.

I frowned. This tomb was indeed sinister. What kind of being was its master?

"And then? How did you become a shadow? What happened to your body?" I glanced at Zhao Zhiqiang. Now, he was as black as charcoal, a drifting figure in the air, eerily unsettling.

"That’s the strange part," Zhao Zhiqiang’s voice became gloomy. "When I saw her face had no features, I was stunned. She lunged at me, and then I remember nothing. When I regained consciousness, I was already like this." He sighed as he spoke.

I frowned, my tone heavy as I comforted him, "Don’t worry, I’ll do my best to help you."