The Lost Tomb Vol. 7

Chapter 41: Hair

Two thoughts immediately popped into my head: what the hell is this thing and why didn't I notice it just now? If this thing was already here, then maybe it was simply what those little balls under me looked like when they grew up? If not, then this thing was alive and would be a little troublesome to deal with.

The metal tapping sound was particularly clear and I looked around thinking, is this not a distress call, but a warning? My heart was thundering in my chest as I looked for a way out, but there was none. If this thing had caused Xiao Hua's misfortune, then I was in an even worse state. He could at least knock on things to express his distress, but I could only hit the wall with my head.

But even though I was extremely flustered, my mind was very clear and I wasn't confused. I didn't wait for that thing to tell me what it was, and casually pulled out a bamboo scroll from a nearby alcove.

Shit, it weighed five or six kilograms. I was used to playing with rice paper sheets used for rubbings, and was a little awed by the heavy bamboo scroll. I swung it up and smashed it into the mass of hair.

Bamboo scrolls were just bamboo slips tied together. After so many years, the silk thread had long decayed into mud, so even though the scroll retained its shape when I grabbed it, the bamboo slips fell onto the hair like scattered flowers as soon as I tossed it out.

As the bamboo slips fell to the ground, it was very obvious that there was something substantial in the clump of hair.

I watched warily, thinking that if that thing moved, I would immediately jump down and run out first, regardless of what I stepped on.

But it didn't move. It was the kind of immobility that was genuine, just like a dead thing.

I stayed on guard for a while, my heart very hesitant. I hoped it would move so that I could escape, but if it didn't move, it might be harmless. Maybe it was just a stake set up here long ago that happened to be covered in hair. If so, that meant that I would have to go past it.

After listening to my harsh breathing for a while, I composed myself, stopped hesitating, gritted my teeth, and kept moving. Within a few steps, I was getting closer and closer to that thing.

Just imagine yourself in the dark, seeing a large mass of weird hair standing there, not knowing what's inside. Your body's shaking and the flashlight moves around in the dark, illuminating things from time to time. Such a strange feeling was very uncomfortable. In the end, I had to force myself to stop looking at it so that I could focus on remaining pressed up against the wall and trying to move past it as soon as possible.

My mind was numb during the whole process, but I felt my hair stand on end and the back of my neck tingle. I clenched my teeth and silently laughed at myself: when I get through this level, I'll really be numb.

As I inched forward, however, I suddenly felt a chill and had to stop and calm down for a moment.

The back of my neck was really tingling and after moving for a while, the feeling increased instead of decreasing.

I felt cold and suddenly realized that it wasn't my imagination.

Fuck, that thing was behind me now! My whole body immediately started trembling violently and all my attention became focused on the back of my neck. I could almost imagine what would happen next: as soon as I looked back, my head would be buried in a mass of hair.

I didn't know what made the decision for me, but I immediately slammed my head back, trying to knock it down so that I could run away. There was a muffled sound, and I felt a sharp pain on the back of my head, along with a buzzing in my ears—the thing behind me was as hard as iron.