luo jia shan ju
Chapter 30 Portrait
Fatty and Han Yu were being watched by the figure on the high platform, and they didn't dare to move, as if petrified.
Fatty felt his heart pounding under that gaze, but not daring to make any rash moves, he quietly signaled to Han Yu with his eyes, "What the hell is that thing?"
Han Yu responded in a low voice, "I don't know either..."
The figure on the high platform continued to stare at the two of them for a full five minutes, without making any other movements.
"Could this be a hallucination?" Han Yu asked Fatty.
Fatty, while trying to reassure Han Yu, also tried to reassure himself, "Damn it, your Fatty is a staunch materialist warrior, not afraid of ghosts or gods, sweeping away all hallucinations."
But as soon as he said those words, Fatty felt a little guilty. When he was a soldier, Fatty had spent a lot of time in the wilderness on reconnaissance missions. He had often spent sleepless nights alone in the deep mountains and old forests, where there were jackals, tigers, leopards, and all kinds of strange poisonous insects, but he had never been afraid.
But everything that was happening here couldn't help but create a sense of inexplicable fear and worry.
Han Yu quietly said to Fatty, "Brother Shi, let's call Rou Yi and leave this place quickly. It's a bit creepy here."
Fatty nodded, this was not a place to stay for long.
Rou Yi was currently focused on studying the graphic symbols on the wall, completely unaware of the abnormality behind her.
Just as Fatty and Han Yu were about to act, the figure on the high platform suddenly raised its scepter and slammed it heavily onto the platform – "Bang!" – and then emitted a distant, hollow sound similar to a Buddhist chant – "Ka—Kong—"
Fatty and Han Yu were once again shocked by the scene before them.
This... this was not a statue at all, this was clearly a living person.
Sweat had already begun to run down Fatty's cheeks – was it a person or a ghost? What did it want?
Fatty's unwavering belief in his heart had begun to waver.
…
From the moment the four of them entered the temple, Fatty, Rou Yi, and Han Yu's attention had been drawn to the objects in the main hall, while I had stood motionless in the center of the hall, like a wooden man, so no one had paid much attention to me.
After experiencing this, Fatty glanced at me with concern, wanting to confirm whether my condition had improved, but this one look left Fatty dumbfounded.
I was standing with my knees apart, palms together, fingers aligned, elbows bent, and placed in front of my chest at about a forty-five-degree angle, kneeling on the ground in the main hall, and facing the figure on the high platform.
At this moment, another muffled sound came from the high platform – "Bang!" – followed by a deep and drawn-out "Ka—Kong—".
After hearing the sound, my upper body slowly bent forward, eventually prostrating completely on the ground, while my palms separated and pressed against the ground in front of my head. After a brief pause, I straightened my upper body again and returned to my previous kneeling position.
Fatty turned his head to look at the figure on the high platform again, and met the figure's gaze, a bone-chilling coldness assailing him – the figure on the high platform was still staring at Fatty and Han Yu.
Fatty signaled to Han Yu to quickly imitate my posture and prostrate towards the high platform. Whether prostration was useful or not, imitating the young master's method would at least not be out of place.
Although Han Yu felt that it was very strange, the gaze of the figure on the high platform had been making her hair stand on end and making her feel uncomfortable all over.
So, amidst the alternating sounds of "Bang" and "Ka—Kong—", the two repeatedly prostrated towards the high platform.
"Bang!"
"Ka—Kong—"
…
The sounds ended after repeating ten times, but Fatty and Han Yu were still kneeling on the ground, not getting up, their hands clasped together, very devout.
Fatty saw that no sound had been heard for a long time, so he raised his head to look at the high platform, and saw that the figure on the high platform had returned to its original appearance, looking ahead, no longer staring at them.
Fatty turned his head to look at me again, and I had returned to my previous wooden man pose, standing blankly in the center of the hall.
What the hell is going on, Fatty thought to himself.
Rou Yi suddenly walked over from behind the two of them and asked the two kneeling on the ground, "What's wrong with you? Why are you kneeling on the ground?"
The two immediately stood up and looked at Rou Yi in confusion.
Fatty asked Rou Yi, "The 'person' on the high platform moved just now, didn't you notice it?"
Rou Yi shook her head, "No, isn't that just a statue? How could it move?"
Fatty thought to himself, Rou Yi had been focusing on the wall, so it was normal that she didn't see it, and quickly asked, "What about the sound? You should have heard the sound, right!"
Rou Yi shook her head again and said, "No, everything is normal, except for you two being abnormal. Could it be that you two are possessed?"
"What about the young master?" Fatty pointed to me, who was as stiff as a wooden chicken, and said, "He was kowtowing more fiercely than your Fatty just now, didn't you notice that either?"
Rou Yi suddenly laughed and said, considering how the young master is, you still have the mind to joke.
Fatty and Han Yu looked at each other, falling into a complex mood.
Weird, this place is really too weird.
Fatty recounted the events that had just transpired to Rou Yi. Rou Yi listened in a daze, but considering my previous experience in the temple, she did not doubt the veracity of Fatty's narrative.
Han Yu suddenly realized something, so she asked Rou Yi, "How long has it been since we came in?"
Rou Yi thought for a moment, "I can't determine the exact time, but I've looked at all three surrounding walls. According to the time we spent studying the walls in the underground base before, it's been at least two hours."
"What?" Fatty asked in disbelief, "I clearly felt like it had only been a short while, how could so much time have passed?"
"We might have been tricked." Han Yu said worriedly, "Let's leave this place first. This place has an indescribable sense of unease."
Fatty and Rou Yi also agreed with Han Yu's view.
When the three of them decided to leave the temple, they discovered that I, who had originally been standing in the center of the main hall, had disappeared.
Fatty thought to himself, wasn't he standing there just now? How could he have disappeared in such a short time?
Not good, the young master is lost again.
Everyone thought that I had difficulty moving and couldn't have gone far, so they began to search near the main hall.
Everyone looked around, it was quiet, and no sound could be heard in the huge space. No one could be seen inside or outside the hall.
Just as they were at a loss, Han Yu suddenly noticed something strange on the high platform. She pointed to the high platform and stuttered to Fatty and Rou Yi, "That... that is..."
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