Mu Ye seemed to react instantly. He pulled Tang Doudou behind him protectively as he attacked with the iron chain. The iron chain struck the stone wall of the cave with a blue flash and caused rocks to rain down around them even as it lit up the black fog and Shen Moruâs sinister features.
âLetâs go!â Mu Ye didnât hesitate and started running into the cave while shielding Tang Doudou protectively.
Shen Moru started laughing in his strange way as he followed after them like a ghost. Without the light Mu Yeâs chain emitted, they had no way of telling where exactly Shen Moru was. However, his laughter seemed to come from right next to them. Its abrupt appearance and disappearance was very frightening.
Tang Doudou ran with Mu Ye, but the more they ran, the more off the road became. She hastily tugged at Mu Ye.
Mu Ye said, âThere are a lot of forks in the road.â
Tang Doudouâs eyes lit up. âYes yes! I definitely ended up taking a different road on accident, thatâs why that black-robed person in the mural seemed to disappear!â
âBlack-robed person?â
âThatâs right! Could it be that you didnât notice?â Tang Doudou glanced towards Mu Ye with puzzlement. How could he have missed it?
âLetâs talk about it later.â Mu Ye stopped her from continuing and ran while pulling her. After a long while, they finally managed to shake Shen Moru off.
Mu Ye didnât say anything and turned around to head back.
When Tang Doudou saw that he was about to leave her in this unfamiliar, pitch-black place, she hastily grabbed him and asked, âWhere are you going?â
âTo look at the murals.â After he said that, he pushed Tang Doudouâs hand off and left without even glancing back.
Tang Doudou felt depressed. If she had known earlier that this would happen, she wouldnât have told him about the murals. Now this was just great, he ran off by himself again.
What if Shen Moru ended up catching up with them?
The more Tang Doudou thought about it, the more unsafe she felt, so she started feeling her way with her hands and walking forward. After a few steps, she heard a âkachaâ sound. In the spacious cave, this sound was distinctly loud.
She had stepped on something, and had even gotten her foot stuck.
Tang Doudou rubbed her chin and tried moving her leg again, but it was completely stuck. She couldnât pull it out at all, so she bent down to try and get her foot out with her hands. She was surprised by the feel of the object.
The sensation was very smooth and even slightly cold. It wasnât just one thing either, there was stick after stick of this stuff, and they seemed to be arranged very neatly.
She had accidently broken one of the sticks when she was walking and her leg had gotten stuck between two of the sticks.
What could this be?
Tang Doudou was curious. Just as she was about to reach out to try to pry those two sticks apart, the cave suddenly lit up. She reflexively squinted due to the bright light and lifted her hand to block the light. Through the seams in her fingers, she saw that Mu Ye was walking over while holding a makeshift torch.
âWhat are you doing?â Mu Ye was still as expressionless and cold as always.
Tang Doudou loosened a breath in relief when she saw that it was him. âItâs nothing, itâs just that my foot got stuck. Iâll get it out right now. Oh, thatâs right, when you were heading back, did you see that black-clothed person on the murals?â
As she spoke, she looked down to see what her foot had gotten stuck in. With the light, she was immediately able to see what it was and she screamed, âAh!â
Mu Ye had gone to look around this place, but when he heard her scream, he immediately moved to her side. âWhatâs wrong?â
Tang Doudou had her eyes squeezed shut as she pointed below her feet. âS-skeâ¦skeleton!â
Mu Ye looked down and saw that her foot was stuck in a ribcage. He sent a strike over and the bones instantly turned to dust. Tang Doudou hastily pulled her leg back and bowed towards the shattered bones with her hands pressed together in front of her as she muttered, âBro, I really didnât step on you on purpose, itâs also partially your fault for dying by the road instead of in a proper bed. It was completely dark and there was no way to see, so you canât blame me for accidentally stepping on you, right? However, Iâm a very kind-hearted person. As long as you donât come looking for me to play, once I get back, Iâll burn paper offerings and incense for youâ¦â
Mu Yeâs lips twitched as he listened to her go on and on about this. In the end, he turned away and started looking towards the cave with the torch.
When Tang Doudou noticed his movements, she immediately stopped trying to communicate with that âbroâ on the ground and used her foot to nudge the shattered bone pieces into a pile before tiptoeing away from that place.
âMu Ye, what are you looking at?â Mu Ye was looking at something with the torch. She looked as well, but couldnât see anything out of the ordinary.
Mu Ye replied, âMurals.â
When Tang Doudou heard this, she looked towards both sides of the cave. Currently, the torch lit up the walls so brightly that they were practically glowing white. However, the walls were blank. There was no trace of the brightly colored murals that covered the other walls. She moved closer and used her hand to brush off the dust on the walls, but there was still nothing. She looked up at Mu Ye and asked, âThere arenât any murals though?â
âSearching.â
Tang Doudou was puzzled. âSay, why would there be murals in this cave?â
Mu Ye didnât reply.
Tang Doudou peeked at him. When she saw that he seemed to be listening, she continued, âFrom what I know, these murals usually appear in caves that had once been inhabited. The murals usually record the daily lives of the inhabitants. Another type of mural appears in tombs and are used to record the achievements of the buried person⦠However, this doesnât seem to be a place that people had lived in, nor does it seem like an ancient tomb. Itâs really strange that it has so many large murals that span such a long period!â
After she finished speaking, she glanced at Mu Ye.
Mu Ye was also looking at her. He only shifted his gaze away when she looked over. âWhen did you start looking into these things?â
âOhâ¦â Tang Doudou thought that he was about to praise her. When he responded with this question, she rubbed her chin and said, âIâd occasionally read about it in books so I remembered the more interesting information.â
Tang Doudou saw that his face was still expressionless, but for some reason she felt that he was thinking she was âfucking useless.â
âDid you see that black-robed person on the murals earlier?â
Mu Ye seemed to frown slightly as he replied, âNo.â
âHow is that possible? The first time I looked, that black-robed person was on every single mural. However, when I headed back, I couldnât see it anymore. I know what I saw!â Tang Doudou insisted.
Mu Ye nodded. âI know.â
âYou know? Donât you think itâs weird?â
âItâs weird.â
Tang Doudouâs interactions with him were usually like this. He would reply and she would interpret.
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