Chapter 113: The Counterfeit Dagger

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Ghost-Face Zhang bandaged his injured hand. Once he saw that the bleeding had eased, he casually tucked the dagger that had cut him into his boot, his expression perfectly natural.

Just then, Mengya tugged at my sleeve and glanced at Ghost-Face Zhang. “Third Master, the two of us need to have a private word. Would you mind stepping aside for a moment?”

Ghost-Face Zhang hesitated. He looked at me, then at Mengya, and frowned. The strange expression in his eyes made my heart pound. I was terrified that I might have said something wrong and that he would suddenly turn against us.

He stood there hesitating for quite some time, apparently realizing that his behavior was becoming abnormal. Then he took a cigarette from his pocket, perhaps to ease the awkward atmosphere, lit it, and inhaled deeply.

“Be quick. I won’t disturb you and your wife while you talk.”

With that, he sprang away and jogged several yards off.

I looked at Mengya. “What is it? Did you discover something?”

Mengya frowned and glanced in Ghost-Face Zhang’s direction. Seeing that he was well away from us, she surveyed our surroundings, lowered her voice as much as possible, and cupped a hand around her mouth.

“Did you notice anything wrong with that dagger?”

I was startled. Perhaps I was simply too slow-witted, but I really had not noticed anything. “Uh… You mean the writing on the dagger that Xu Yang mentioned?”

“Oh, honestly!” Mengya scratched her head. “I really don’t know what to do with you. You didn’t take a close look at the dagger?”

Her words made me even more anxious. “Stop keeping me in suspense. Just tell me.”

Mengya sighed. “After we opened those three Black Tortoise heads, Hou Qiankun finished selecting the sacrificial objects and removing the nails. Cloaked Sister and Ghost-Face Zhang asked for the dagger, and you still didn’t notice anything strange?”

I cursed inwardly. If I had known, I would have said something long ago. If Mengya had not kept dragging things out, I would already have slapped her across the face. I clasped my hands toward her.

“All right, Mengya—Sister Mengya, since I’m calling you Sister, will you please just say it? Ghost-Face Zhang can’t hear us!”

Mengya smiled and nodded. “Do you remember what the dagger that stabbed you on the overpass looked like?”

I paused and thought for a long while, but nothing came to mind.

“The dagger that stabbed you on the overpass and the one Third Master Zhang took out just now, when Cloaked Sister—your old flame—came to demand an explanation from him, are not the same dagger at all.”

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Her words struck me like a bolt from a clear sky. That confirmed one thing beyond doubt: Ghost-Face Zhang definitely knew the people in that group—or at the very least, he knew the person who had tried to assassinate me. Otherwise, there would have been no reason for him to deliberately conceal the truth by switching the daggers.

“Then why didn’t you expose him when you noticed?”

Mengya gave a cold laugh. “I may dislike your old flame, Sister, because of the whole man-and-woman business. But I can be certain that she is on our side. Even so, the three of us absolutely cannot stand against the people under the Nine Gates Commander. Even if those people are pretending to cooperate while each harbors his own agenda, when it comes to us and Ghost-Face Zhang, they will certainly take his side. Besides, that old devil Hou Qiankun followed us all this way without our knowing. Those two alone are troublesome enough. Who knows whether the leader of the Nine Gates Commander, that old man known as Through-Heaven Pass, is even in this tomb? That old monster is unfathomable. Who knows what kind of scheme he may devise? Exposing the truth would be nothing less than courting death.”

Her explanation suddenly cleared my mind. I was utterly impressed by the way she had handled the matter. I had never imagined that a woman like her could possess such courage and judgment. She inspired both admiration and fear.

“Now that you’ve exposed him, aren’t you afraid Ghost-Face Zhang will turn against us?” I asked in a low voice.

The instant I finished speaking, a vicious smile appeared on Mengya’s face. She gave a cold chuckle, and a terrifying chill flickered in her eyes.

“What is there to fear from one man?”

As she spoke, a frightening killing intent rose from her.

“The best outcome is for everyone to remain on good terms and for all of us to get out of here together.”

“W-wait a moment…” She frightened me so badly that I began to stammer. Sometimes I truly could not handle the way Mengya seemed to be both righteous and sinister at once. “What… what are you planning this time?”

She did not answer me immediately. After remaining silent for nearly half a minute, she let out a half-smile and gave a derisive hum.

“I won’t harm you. For your sake, I’m capable of doing anything.”

I was just about to persuade her otherwise when she waved a hand, signaling me not to continue.

“Let’s go. If we delay any longer, Ghost-Face Zhang will grow suspicious.”

I acknowledged her, and together we hurried back to Ghost-Face Zhang. By then, he had already crushed three or four cigarette butts beneath his feet. He frowned impatiently.

“What took you so long? Even if you’re reminiscing, you should at least consider the place.”

Mengya ignored him. I scratched my head and hurriedly interrupted.

“No, no. I was only asking about her health.”

Ghost-Face Zhang gave an “oh,” then turned and continued deeper inside. We followed close behind.

We walked through the tomb passage for another ten minutes. The sound of waves in the distance and the successive gusts of cold wind never ceased. Just as our patience was beginning to wear thin, the passage suddenly seemed to come to an end.

At its far end stood a gigantic gate.

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Ghost-Face Zhang clicked his tongue, lit another cigarette, and looked at me.

“Hey, I can’t make heads or tails of this thing, and the Kaleidoscope isn’t here either. I’ll have to leave it to you.”

I gave a bitter smile. “I’ll do my best. I really will…”

Ghost-Face Zhang snorted and moved aside to smoke. I shone my flashlight over the enormous gate, and the moment I did, I was shocked.

This massive gate was completely different from the one we had seen earlier, the gate bearing the Parah black-stone guides and the image of the Mother Buddha. It stood roughly eight or nine meters high and was more than a dozen meters wide. The entire structure was cast from red copper, which gave it an imposing weight.

The surface of the gate was covered with carvings of skulls and human beings with flesh and blood still on their bodies, all wearing grotesque expressions. Numerous monstrous fish, four or five times the size of a man, were devouring human flesh and bones. Their forms resembled the demon fish depicted during the Liao and Jin periods, though they were not quite the same. They looked somewhat like rays—flat-bodied creatures from the sea.

At the very center of the gate was a monstrous fish nearly seven or eight meters tall. It resembled the others, except that it lashed out with a long tail. Hundreds of human beings were impaled along it like meat on a skewer, every one of them wearing a horribly distorted expression.

All the monstrous fish had been coated with a thick layer of gold, glittering brilliantly in the light. The gate alone must have used several hundred pounds of gold.

In every respect, it was an extraordinarily extravagant creation, perhaps the product of the finest craftsmanship of its age. The entire composition was unforgettable. Its terror seemed branded into the mind like a burn.

“What kind of creature is that fish?” Ghost-Face Zhang was clearly shaken by the carvings, though he had survived countless battles and would not be easily frightened by something like this.

I clicked my tongue. “Judging from the craftsmanship of the gate, this tomb cannot date later than the Tang dynasty. But I’ve never seen a fish like this before.”

Mengya studied the terrifying gate and frowned as well. She scratched her head anxiously.

“I remember Old Master Guan once saying that there was a place in this tomb called Fishbone Cave. Do you remember?”

Only then did her words bring it back to me. Ghost-Face Zhang seemed to have had the same realization and nodded.

“Yes. Big Brother mentioned it. He said the tomb chamber lies beneath Fishbone Cave. Could this be the Fishbone Cave he was talking about?”

“I think so. We’ve come all this way, and the only place that could contain so many fish is here. The next question is how we’re going to open this gate.”

I answered as I studied it.

Ghost-Face Zhang looked at me. Then, without warning, he suddenly reached out and placed a hand on my shoulder.

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