Chapter 88: Numbers

Iron-Crutch Liu’s face was twisted with anger. As he waved his hand, the two men who had been fighting turned to look back, only to see that Ghostface Zhang had appeared behind him without a sound, putting a stop to his actions. The moment he appeared, the shrill, piercing sound of the xun in the tomb passage vanished as well.

“Third Brother!” The Kaleidoscope rolled nimbly off the ground and sprang to his feet. “It’s so good you’re alright, you see? The moment you left, everything turned chaotic.” No sooner had he stood up than he began tattling on the others.

Ghostface Zhang snorted, glanced at the Kaleidoscope, but showed no intention of standing up for him or punishing Iron-Crutch Liu’s group. Iron-Crutch Liu sensed the shift and, worried Ghostface Zhang might blame him, quickly changed the subject: “Th-Third Brother, what happened to those three-headed monsters up ahead?”

Ghostface Zhang didn’t answer, but tossed something in his hand onto the ground with a muffled thud. Everyone looked and saw that it was the three masks from the faces of the three-headed host. There was no doubt—Ghostface Zhang had slain the monsters ahead.

“Impressive work, Third Brother!” the Kaleidoscope hurried to flatter him. “There’s no one else in our circle with your skills, truly.”

Yet none of this flattery seemed to please Ghostface Zhang. On the contrary, he shot the Kaleidoscope a sharp sideways glance, which so frightened him that he quickly swallowed his words and slunk to the back of the group.

Ghostface Zhang lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and looked over the team as if searching for something.

“Qiu Tong.”

After a while, he called my name. I was startled, glancing his way, only to see him beckon me over. Scratching my head, I wondered what he wanted with me, utterly at a loss as I walked over.

When I’d distanced myself from the group by a dozen meters or so, I asked awkwardly, “Is something wrong?”

Ghostface Zhang didn’t reply right away. He stood there smoking, fixing me with a strange look that made cold sweat bead on my skin and goosebumps rise all over. “If you have something to say, just say it—don’t make me feel like a criminal under interrogation.”

He took another drag and asked quietly, “Did you all stay put here just now?”

I hesitated a moment. Hadn’t he told us not to move until he returned? Why ask me now? Annoyed, I replied, “Didn’t you say so yourself? Not to follow unless you came back? Have you forgotten your own instructions?”

Ghostface Zhang shook his head, flicked away his cigarette, and after stamping it out, glanced at the group behind us. He lowered his voice still further: “I’m asking about your girlfriend. Did she leave at any point?”

I froze, about to turn and look, when Ghostface Zhang murmured, “Don’t turn around.”

Obeying, I kept my eyes ahead, suddenly embarrassed. “Girlfriend? Who do you mean?” My face flushed scarlet and I hung my head.

Ghostface Zhang snorted coldly. “The one in the black cloak—the third wheel, not your original companion.”

Only then did I realize he meant the Black Cloak. What did he mean by calling her a third party? But it wasn’t exactly inaccurate, and I had nothing to rebut with. Stifling my frustration, I thought back. My attention had mostly been on Ghostface Zhang and the three-headed host, so I hadn’t paid much heed to the Black Cloak’s actions. I shook my head. “Honestly, I forgot. I didn’t really notice. If there’s something, just say it—don’t beat around the bush.”

Ghostface Zhang frowned again. “Earlier, I fought someone.”

“What’s that got to do with the Black Cloak?” I shot him a glance, impatience creeping into my tone.

Ghostface Zhang lit another cigarette and took a drag. “That person was wearing a black cloak, just like your girlfriend.”

“What?” I blurted, stunned. The Black Cloak had saved me more than once from the jaws of death, but she was certainly suspicious. I lowered my voice, asking, “Are you sure it was her?”

“I can’t be certain, but the outfit was virtually identical. That’s why I asked—I suspect she’s a traitor.”

I gave a mirthless laugh. Impossible. She was the one who’d told me there was a mole in the group when we were fighting in the quicksand pit. Why would she accuse herself? And if she were the traitor, wouldn’t it be easier not to show up at all? We’d all have perished in the ‘Mimic Corridor’. I waved my hand. “Impossible. She was the one who warned us of a traitor during the quicksand fight. Besides, when I was ambushed on the pipe bridge and nearly ended up fish food for the loach dragon, she was the one who pulled me up. If not for her, I’d be dead and gone by now.”

Ghostface Zhang snorted at my defense. “Of course she’d save you—you’re her lover. If you died, she’d be left a young widow.”

I cursed under my breath. Did this guy have no sense of decorum? I called him master uncle, after all. He was the senior-most here—yet he couldn’t resist taking jabs at me. If I weren’t so tired of arguing, I’d have brought up his own scandals with that internet celebrity from Fatty Lin’s gambling den.

Seeing me fall silent, Ghostface Zhang took a drag, flicked his cigarette away and ground it out. “Never trust a woman lightly. Remember that.” With that, he rejoined the group, shooting the Black Cloak a sidelong glance but saying nothing more. Instead, he turned to the Kaleidoscope, who was crouched on the ground studying the golden masks. “How’s the research going?”

The Kaleidoscope scratched his head. “Third Brother, how did you get these masks off?”

Ghostface Zhang sighed and waved us over, heading toward the three-headed host’s remains. We jogged after him. He stopped before a pile of rubble and rotten flesh, pointing to three iron rods standing upright in the ground. “I found nothing else. Those three-headed things were merely a stone statue with three masks. Li Ironhead came over, triggered the trap, and I didn’t pull him back in time—he died right here.” Lighting another cigarette, he continued, “I split the statue open with my blade and these three rods were inside. When I struck them with my knife, that xun-sound we heard started up.”

The Kaleidoscope examined the rods closely. They were no ordinary pipes: gold and silver inlay formed intricate patterns, winding around one another like vines, arranged in a triangle.

“Third Brother, do you remember how the masks were arranged?” the Kaleidoscope asked.

“What do you mean?” Ghostface Zhang replied, uncertain.

The Kaleidoscope smiled. “Did you notice the writing on the back of the masks?”

Ghostface Zhang nodded, gave a nasal grunt, and picked up the masks. “Arranged like this,” he said, passing them over in the positions of northwest, northeast, and due south.

Hearing mention of writing, I craned my neck for a look, and was left utterly baffled. “Are these… phone numbers?”

On the back of the northwest-facing mask, the inscription read: 329629372616.

The northeast mask bore: 293732963296.

The south-facing mask’s sequence differed from the other two: 329626162937.

The Kaleidoscope grinned at my confusion. “Why not try dialing one?”

“If not phone numbers, what are they?” the Black Cloak asked uncertainly.

The Kaleidoscope simply smiled mysteriously, shaking his head and falling silent, though he seemed quite self-assured, as if enjoying the suspense.

Smack!

Just as he was playing coy, Ghostface Zhang smacked him hard on the head, so forcefully the Kaleidoscope nearly toppled over with a startled burp.

“Quit wasting time and get to the point!” Ghostface Zhang scolded.

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