Daomu Biji: A Thousand Faces

At this same time, the chauffeur (1) climbed down as well. He was holding onto the ladder and looking fearfully at them.

Ah Tou felt that this local chauffeur really had some valuable traits. Although he was timid and wanted to leave this place, he only mentioned it twice and didn’t run away or ask them any more questions. Instead, he suppressed his fear and followed after them.

Seeing him continuing to stay with them despite being in a constant state of fear was kind of cute.

The chauffeur had no interest in checking out the things they were investigating. Instead, his attention was immediately attracted by a large hole in the wall. He approached the hole and shined his flashlight inside. Ah Tou had her attention on the chauffeur as she passed Liang Yanyan the videotape. According to the usual horror movie trend, when the chauffeur looked into the hole with his flashlight, something would immediately pull him inside. 

But the chauffeur spent a long time looking into the hole with nothing happening. He also didn’t stick his upper body into the hole like people usually did in the movies but stayed far enough away for him to escape at any time.

Liang Yanyan examined the videotape for a while and then began looking around. Ah Tou didn’t know what she was looking for, but when she asked, the only answer she got was, “Bring everything out.” She couldn't find what she was looking for, so she glanced at the chauffeur and quickly began to count the number of X-rays. She then approached the bookshelf full of videotapes and counted how many there were. In total, there were eighteen X-rays and six videotapes. “Carry all of these things back to the car and don’t come back. Wait for us in the car,” she said to the chauffeur. 

The chauffeur didn’t answer her but kept looking into the hole. Liang Yanyan and Ah Tou exchanged a look before walking over. They saw three incense sticks burning about six or seven steps away from the entrance. "Black Glasses went in," Liang Yanyan stuffed the X-rays into the chauffeur’s hand and added the six tapes on top. “I know how many there are. I won't pay you if you lose a single one of them. Go now.”

"Are you sure you’re ok on your own? " The chauffeur asked.

"Just go," Liang Yanyan had already stepped into the hole and began crawling forward. As the chauffeur watched, he realized that she was certain about continuing on, so he didn’t ask any more questions and just quickly made his way out of the basement.

Ah Tou followed Liang Yanyan, feeling like she was going crazy the whole time. She could no longer refuse the woman in front of her. In fact, it almost seemed like she would do whatever Liang Yanyan asked of her. And so, here she was following along. 

"Nice to see that you’re not scared anymore. You’re very different compared to how you were before,” Liang Yanyan took a few more steps forward and then looked back at Ah Tou, who had followed her in. The tunnel only allowed them to walk while staying crouched down, so she had only just passed the three incense sticks at this time.

"You’re not scared either, right? We’re both humans, so if you’re not scared, then I don't need to be scared, either.”

"I'm not like you."

"We're not so different," Ah Tou spoke from her heart. She really felt that what others could do was something human beings could do in general. At least, there wasn’t any point in being intimidated before doing it. Liang Yanyan’s ability was certainly much stronger than hers, but maybe because she was young, she felt that it was still possible for her to be as strong as this woman. 

"You’re going wherever that man is going,” Ah Tou said to Liang Yanyan. “Did you two have something in the past?”

"If he takes care of things before I do, I won’t get any money,” the other woman said while lighting a cigarette. The small flame from the lighter ended up revealing a fork in the tunnel. Liang Yanyan put the cigarette down in the middle of the fork and headed towards the path where the air was flowing. 

"No airflow means it’s a dead end. The shortest path has the greatest airflow.”

"Who dug these tunnels?” Ah Tou examined the walls and realized that they were all earthy and uneven. They didn't seem to be made from tools, but by animals.

Liang Yanyan didn’t answer, but glanced back at her again. Ah Tou immediately understood, “Do you mean… Long Immortal?"

****

TN Notes:

(1) I’ll be using “chauffeur” instead of “driver” from now on. Chauffeur better explains why he’s following the girls all the way, since he has the responsibility to keep his passengers safe. The two terms are the same in Chinese. Sorry for the confusion.