Chapter 65.4: The Thing That Returned Home

The serpent’s body was covered in intricately carved scales—perfect footholds and handholds.

Li Zhuiyuan pointed upward and said, “Let’s climb.”

There wasn’t much to hesitate over—there were no other options. If they wanted to get out, this was the only way forward. More importantly, the serpent’s body angled upward, in line with the direction of survival.

The four of them climbed onto the serpent’s head and ascended it like a ladder, one step at a time.

Just like earlier on the staircase, they kept shining their flashlights upward as they climbed.

Suddenly, the flashlight beam caught the outline of a figure standing near the serpent’s tail above.

Another stone statue?

That was Li Zhuiyuan’s first thought—but then, it moved. The figure stepped back. It was alive!

The four of them, all climbing with heads tilted upward, clearly saw it too.

They froze at once, unsure whether to keep going.

“Xiaoyuan?”

“Runsheng-ge…”

Before Li Zhuiyuan could finish speaking, a sharp pain pierced his skull, forcing him to press his forehead against the scales, using the cold stone to clear his head.

It felt like the serpent’s body had come alive beneath his hands, beginning to writhe.

But when he looked up again, the movement stopped.

A hallucination?

“Xiaoyuan?” Runsheng asked again.

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head hard and forced himself to stay calm. “Runsheng-ge, keep going!”

“Okay!”

Runsheng sped up, climbing swiftly to the top.

When Li Zhuiyuan followed, he found another platform waiting above. Runsheng’s flashlight swept across, revealing yet another massive serpent head.

“No, something’s wrong…”

Li Zhuiyuan clenched his teeth. He could feel it—something was off.

Then Tan Wenbin and Xue Liangliang caught up, both of them panting for breath.

Runsheng asked, “Xiaoyuan, do we keep climbing?”

Li Zhuiyuan raised a hand to signal him to wait, to give himself a moment to think—to figure out exactly what was wrong.

He retraced every detail from the moment they began climbing, recalling all their conversations. The wrongness grew stronger with each memory. And he began to wonder—why had it taken him so long to notice?

Just then, his own voice rang out:

“Runsheng-ge, keep going! This is a ladder. As long as we keep climbing, we’ll make it out!”

Li Zhuiyuan’s eyes widened in horror. Who was mimicking his voice?

He tried to speak, to warn the others—but to his shock, no sound came out.

Clutching his own throat with both hands, he forced himself to try again, but no matter how hard he strained, he couldn’t make a sound.

He tried to rush forward and grab Runsheng—but his legs were leaden, refusing to move.

“Binbin-ge, Liangliang-ge, hurry up! Just a bit more, once we reach the top, it’s over! We won’t be tired anymore.”

“Yeah, hang in there!”

“I’m fine, Xiaoyuan.”

Tan Wenbin and Xue Liangliang kept going, while Runsheng had already climbed onto the serpent’s head ahead of them.

Please, notice I’m not moving! Please see that I’m not there!

But then, as Xue Liangliang’s flashlight swept past, Li Zhuiyuan was stunned to see Runsheng—already atop the serpent’s head—bend down and help a small boy up.

After lifting the boy, the child turned his head to look back at him.

There was a mocking smile on his lips.

What are you?

No—what is this place?

Li Zhuiyuan shut his eyes and tried to walk the shade. In such bizarre situations, that often revealed things invisible to the naked eye.

But he failed. His attempt to walk the shade didn’t work.

This was the first time it had ever failed since he learned how.

Of course, there was another possibility—

He was already inside a dream.

Li Zhuiyuan looked upward and began imagining the method for ending a shade walk: rising, floating upward through seawater… up, up, up…

He awoke. Eyes open.

He was standing in water. The waterline had risen to his neck—his mouth and nose were almost submerged.

Turning his head, he saw the four of them all standing neatly at the base of the stone staircase. Not a single step had been climbed.

Runsheng, Tan Wenbin, and Xue Liangliang all had their eyes closed, completely unaware.

Then, for reasons unknown, Li Zhuiyuan felt a gaze at his back. He immediately turned around in the water.

The stone carving of the woman at the entrance—previously facing away from the staircase—was now turned toward it.

At first, she had revealed only her right hand, right leg, and the right side of her face—the rest merged with the wall.

Now, her left hand, left leg, and left cheek were showing.

And on that side of her face, the corner of her mouth curled upward in a sneering smile.

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