Chapter 1 The Culprit

The first to find Lao Zhang was Jiang Yongguang, who was at the front. He discovered his companion collapsed at the end of the tunnel.

We quickly gathered around, and when we saw Lao Zhang, everyone panicked.

Because he was clearly beyond saving.

Lao Zhang's eyes were wide open, his pupils were already dilated, his mouth was gaping, and his tongue was hanging out—he was already dead.

Seeing a living person who had been joking and laughing with us just a moment ago, turn into a corpse in the blink of an eye, was hard for everyone to accept.

Xiao Liang asked in a trembling voice, "How could this happen? Who... who killed Lao Zhang?"

Uncle Mei squinted at Lao Zhang and muttered, "This death is too gruesome, like he was killed by a vengeful ghost…"

Jiang Yongguang carefully examined Lao Zhang's body and quickly found a dark red strangulation mark on his neck. He immediately concluded:

"It wasn't some vengeful ghost that took his life, Lao Zhang was strangled to death! Someone must have taken advantage of him relieving himself and attacked him from behind…"

Another Xiaoling Guard then speculated, "Could there be a rat in the tomb? Did the rat do it?"

Jiang Yongguang gritted his teeth and nodded. "Very likely!"

While the others were hotly debating, I suddenly heard a rustling sound!

The sound was coming from behind a wall at the end of the tunnel, as if something was moving quickly.

"Listen!"

I reminded everyone as I walked towards the wall. When the light from my headlamp shone on the wall, I could faintly see a gap, about a meter square, in the lower right corner.

"There's a hole here!"

I said loudly again.

Xiao Liang glanced at it and speculated, "I understand now, the murderer who killed Lao Zhang probably crawled out of this hole. Lao Zhang didn't look carefully and thought this was a dead end, so he let his guard down and didn't notice someone was attacking."

"That's probably it," I said with a slight nod.

Before the words were out of my mouth, that strange sound came again from the other side of the gap.

Curious, I couldn't help but squat down facing the corner and shine my headlamp into the hole.

Just then, a face suddenly popped out of the hole!

While I was sizing up the hole, the face was also sizing me up!

But the face was unusually strange, shimmering with a brilliant golden light under the headlamp! It was actually a pure gold face!

A large nose, narrow mouth, and bulging eyes!

Exactly the same as the bronze statues guarding the entrance of the ancient tomb!

I was startled by the strange face and shouted, "Holy crap! A monster!"

As soon as I shouted, the strange face seemed to be frightened as well. It shuddered, took two steps back, and ran away!

Only then did I notice that it was a very short creature, probably only a little over a meter tall, like a child. But its legs and arms were as thick as an adult's, and its neck was also thick.

Its golden face was probably not its real face, but a golden mask. After being startled, it disappeared in the blink of an eye on the other side of the wall.

I was terrified at the time and didn't dare to chase it. Besides, the hole was only about a meter wide, and it wouldn't be easy to crawl through. I just stood there in a daze, pointing at the hole and asking the others, "Did... did you all see that?"

Xiao Liang, who was standing behind me, was already terrified. She nodded blankly and said, "I saw it."

Uncle Mei, Jiang Yongguang, and the other Xiaoling Guards had also clearly seen the strange creature.

Uncle Mei took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Could this be the thing that killed Lao Zhang? What the heck is that thing? Scared the hell out of me!"

Even the knowledgeable Jiang Yongguang was speechless. With his vast knowledge reserves, it was difficult to name the strange creature. He could only say in a low voice:

"No matter what that thing is, it's very dangerous. Lao Zhang has already suffered from it. Everyone must not be alone from now on."

Seeing that the Xiaoling Guards didn't recognize the little dwarf wearing the golden mask, Uncle Mei could only use his imagination to solve the mystery. He paced back and forth twice, then suddenly pointed at the stone coffin in the tomb and guessed:

"Do you think that thing could be a corpse that crawled out of the coffin?"

The thought immediately sent a chill down Xiao Liang's spine. She asked nervously, "N-no way, right?"

Uncle Mei analyzed with reason and evidence: "Look! There are three coffins in the tomb, one large and two small. I don't know who's in the large coffin, but the size of the small coffins is just right for that little dwarf, isn't it? If you ask me, that thing must be a corpse that crawled out of the small coffin!"

Jiang Yongguang was subjectively unwilling to believe Uncle Mei's theory, but objectively he couldn't come up with strong evidence to refute it, so he could only remain silent for the time being.

I recalled the appearance of the strange creature—about a meter tall, with thick limbs, wearing a golden mask, and seemingly wearing a hat woven from thatch on its head.

Because I was closest to it just now, almost face to face, I saw it most clearly.

I racked my brains, thinking if I had ever heard of similar creatures, and then I found an answer.

"In my hometown of Xiangqian, the older generation said that there is something in the mountains called ai luozi (dwarf mule), which looks somewhat similar to that thing just now. Do you think that thing might be an ai luozi that strayed into the ancient tomb?"

Jiang Yongguang was skeptical and shook his head. "Ai luozi and coffin corpses are essentially products of feudal superstition. I don't believe there are such dirty things in the world."

At this moment, Xiao Liang, who had recovered, suddenly said, "Why do I think that thing looks more like a Kappa from Japanese folklore?"

"Kappa?" I had heard the name, but I wasn't familiar with it.

Xiao Liang nodded and said, "Yes, Kappa. Kappa are very common in Japanese folk monster stories. A folklorist named Jun'ichiro Ishikawa once conducted a survey nationwide and found that people in the Tohoku region, the Chubu region, the Kinki region, the Ishikawa and Toyama prefectures of Kansai, the Shikoku region, the northern Kyushu region, the Saga and Miyazaki prefectures of Kyushu, and the Amami and Okinawa Islands have all personally seen Kappa…"

Hearing this, even Jiang Yongguang, who strongly opposed feudal superstition, narrowed his eyes and asked in a low voice:

"Xiao Liang, does this Kappa you're talking about look a lot like the little dwarf with the golden mask just now?"

Xiao Liang replied, "After all, I haven't seen a Kappa in person, so I don't know exactly what a Kappa looks like, but according to the descriptions in the literature, Kappa are indeed short and have thick limbs, which is somewhat similar to that little dwarf. Besides, this place is close to the Tuo River, which is indeed the Kappa's favorite living environment."

Jiang Yongguang couldn't help but sigh after hearing this, "I didn't expect that even a graduate from a regular university would believe in this kind of mountain spirit and water monster folklore."

Xiao Liang retorted, "Kappa may not be mountain spirits and water monsters, maybe they are a new species that has not been recorded yet. After all, the number of eyewitnesses who have seen Kappa is huge, and their descriptions are completely consistent. This can't be a pre-arranged large-scale hoax, right?"

Jiang Yongguang didn't argue with Xiao Liang any further, but touched the diving knife hanging on his waist and said, gnashing his teeth, "Forget it! Whether it's a coffin corpse, an ai luozi, or a Kappa, we'll just catch it and interrogate it, and wouldn't the truth be revealed?"