Chapter 33: The Eccentric

"Run... run..."

"Mole" and I supported each other, stumbling as we ran along the bank of the subterranean river. Behind us, the chimes rang out melodiously.

The current of the underground river surged with hidden force, and a small vortex began to form on the surface. Just as Mole had surmised, there was a massive, wheel-like mechanism beneath the water. This underwater wheel drove bronze chains, which in turn pulled gilded human heads, ultimately causing them to strike the chime bells.

I pressed my hand firmly against my nose, but the scarlet blood still seeped through my fingers, dripping steadily downward.

At that moment, Mole seemed to realize something. She shouted at me, "Cover your ears! Run back!"

Before I could even process her words, she began dragging me back the way we came. Running back after having traveled so far—wasn't that just seeking death? I couldn't fathom her intention, but I allowed her to pull me along.

Despite covering my ears, the closer we got to the source of the sound, the more agonizing the pressure on my eardrums became. We crawled and ran until we returned to our starting point.

"Drop... drop the chime..." Mole’s clothes were already soaked with her own nosebleed, her voice deathly weak.

Enduring the sharp pain in my ears, I unbuckled my pack and forcefully hurled the chime I had been carrying into the underground river.

Almost simultaneously, the ringing of the chimes ceased abruptly.

The gilded skull heads suspended by the bronze chains, deprived of their power source, swung a few more times by sheer momentum before coming to a halt. The underground river returned to its calm state, as if nothing had ever happened.

Mole and I collapsed side-by-side on the ground, gasping for air.

"Hong... Sister Hong, how did you know we had to run back?"

Mole’s face was deathly pale, her chest stained with blood. She spoke her theory in a weak, raspy voice.

I briefly replayed her explanation in my mind and realized it was highly plausible. It was fortunate that she had kept a cool head; otherwise, if we had blindly kept running forward, we surely wouldn't have survived.

This underground river was a long, enclosed tube. Due to this structure, sound traveled incredibly fast—we could never have outrun it. Furthermore, she had gone into the water earlier and realized the chimes only rang because of the wheel and the current's power. Triggering the chimes had been my fault, as I had pried one loose.

Meteoritic iron possesses a mutual attraction—it’s a balance of gravity. Removing one disrupted that equilibrium, proving this was a set of highly sophisticated mechanisms. I secretly mused that perhaps this underground river hadn't existed over two thousand years ago, and that the great wheel might have once been exposed on the surface.

In the era of King Wen of Zhou, the *I Ching* had just been written, but the arts of *Qimen Dunjia* had already been established for a long time. The view that *Qimen Dunjia* was derived from the *I Ching* is incorrect; it must have predated it.

Following that was the Warring States period. Back then, the *I Ching* wasn't even widespread, yet there were already the tactics of the Strategists, the manuals of the Military School, the laws of the Legalists, and the mechanical arts of the Mohists. This era birthed a generation of ambitious figures like Guiguzi, Sun Bin, Ying Zheng, Yan Ying, and Bai Qi.

This massive mechanism of human-head wheels and chimes must have been supported by the Mohist mechanical arts and the Yin-Yang School of the Western Zhou period. From another perspective, this was exactly the kind of "national treasure-level" artifact Yao Yumou had spoken of...

The pity was that we couldn't take it with us.

If we took any of these chimes, it would trigger the underwater wheel and endanger human lives.

"Sister Hong, do you think we won't make it out? That we’ll be trapped here in this underground river until we die?" I wiped the blood from my nose.

Mole did not respond.

"Sister Hong?"

"Sister Hong?"

I struggled to my feet and took a look, only to see Mole’s eyebrows tightly knit, her face ashen—she had fallen into a coma.

"Sister Hong! Sister Hong! Wake up! Please, wake up!" I shook her desperately.

Her body swayed under my grip, but she remained motionless.

"Drink some water, Sister Hong. Yes, drink," I fished a bottle of mineral water from my bag to feed her, but the water wouldn't go down; it just trickled out from the corners of her mouth.

I was at a total loss, my eyes reddening. "Eat, Sister Hong, please, have some biscuits."

The biscuits had turned soft and semi-liquid from the water, but I couldn't get her to swallow those either. Her breathing was now dangerously shallow.

"Move, we have to move. We must get out of here. We still have to find Big Brother, Second Brother, and Third Brother. Move!"

I gritted my teeth and struggled to hoist Mole onto my back.

The flashlight was running low on power, its beam growing dim. Bare-chested, I bent forward to support her weight, pressing on along the riverbank.

Sweat poured down my forehead and stung my eyes.

I walked and rested, rested and walked. When I was thirsty, I drank from the river; when I was hungry, I ate the softened biscuits. From start to finish, I never considered abandoning Mole. I had to save my companion.

There was no sun or moon here, so I had no idea if it was day or night outside. Carrying Mole, shivering from the cold and hunger, I walked for what felt like an eternity. Suddenly, a faint glow of fire appeared in the distance.

My legs gave way, and I finally collapsed, losing consciousness.

...

Feeling a touch of warmth, I slowly opened my eyes.

Beside me, the sound of crackling firewood filled the air, and the aroma of food teased my nostrils.

Suddenly, a face covered in hair leaned in close.

I jolted upright and scrambled back two steps.

It gave me a fright; I thought I’d run into a man-eating savage.

"Who... who are you!" I asked, keeping my distance and remaining on guard.

He mimicked my speech: "Who... who are you."

I took another two steps back and pointed at him. "I asked you who you are, why are you mimicking me?"

To my surprise, he also took two steps back and pointed at me. "I asked you who you are, why are you mimicking me?"

"Damn it," I couldn't help but curse. "Are you an idiot?"

The hairy man mimicked me again: "Damn it, are you an idiot?"

I was speechless and hurriedly checked on Mole.

Seeing her condition, I let out a sigh of relief. Although she still looked pale, her breathing rhythm had clearly stabilized compared to before—a sign of improvement.

I took a deep breath, turned to the man, and said, "Regardless of everything, thank you. Thank you for saving me and my friend."

He just mimicked me again.

We hadn't left the underground river yet, and I had no idea where he had gotten the firewood. Looking at the fish roasting on the fire, sizzling with oil, I couldn't help but swallow hard.

"Hey, can I have some fish?" I asked.

"Hey, can I have some fish?" he replied.

Since this strange man kept mimicking me, I had a sudden idea. "You should eat some, don't be polite."

Sure enough, he mimicked: "You should eat some, don't be polite."

I was delighted. Well, then, I wouldn't be polite.

I hadn't eaten anything hot for a day or two, so I began to wolf down the food. I had meant to eat just a little, but I ended up devouring the entire fish, leaving only the bones.

"Pfft," I spat out a fish bone after the last bite and said, "You should eat some too."

I expected him to mimic me again.

To my surprise...

The strange man stared blankly for a moment, then shook his head violently.

I was shocked to notice that the look in his eyes was different now—a feeling I couldn't quite describe.

He looked down at the pile of fish bones on the ground, then slowly raised his head.

"Damn it, who the hell are you? And why are you eating my roasted fish?"