Chapter 1 (1/2)
Book 1
1. “Shh, listen! Someone’s talking!”
2. “It was this thing just now.”
3. “Yes.”
4. “I think they were running away just now.”
5. “I just feel like something is heading towards us from inside and it’s big.”
6. “It’s probably too late to leave now. Those two let us in because they were confident we won’t be able to get out.”
7. “Can’t kill it yet. We need it in order to leave this carca.s.s cave.”
8. Pokerface said something in a foreign language. [Wu Xie’s narration.]
9. “Donkey hooves are for zombies. I’m afraid this isn’t a zombie. Let me handle this.” [Donkey hooves are to zombies what garlic is to vampires.]
10. “Go! And do not look back!”
11. “We are definitely here right now.”
12. “This is a place for sacrifice. The altar should be below and the items of sacrifice should be underneath.”
13. “Do not touch anything.”
14. “There is another layer for security. The bricks must be removed by pulling outwards, not pus.h.i.+ng in, and definitely not smas.h.i.+ng!”
15. “This wall is filled with vanadic acid used for the production of elixirs. Once it’s disturbed, the organic corrosive acid would pour onto us and we’ll be completely eaten away.”
16. “Done!”
17. “G-g-g.” (Xiaoge speaking zombie-nese)
18. “We must leave this place before daybreak.”
19. “Do not touch anything else in here. The owner of this coffin is very powerful. If it gets out, not even the G.o.ds will be able to save us.”
20. “Careful when you walk by. Do not touch that coffin!”
21. “Don’t move! The true owner [of the coffin] is underneath!” [This is a different coffin from #19.]
22. “We can’t let him get to the chamber where we came from. We’re dead if he touches that coffin!”
23. “Hurry. It’s gaining on us.”
24. “Okay. The designs of the rock pathways here are a bit unusual. It probably won’t catch up for now.”
25. “Help me hold him down.”
26. “One got into his belly.”
27. “This one suffocated in here.”
28. “The wound is too deep. If it’s not disinfected, it’ll get infected and be more trouble.”
29. “Run!”
30. “Out of my way.”
31. “To kill you.”
32. “This blood zombie was the previous owner of the jade armour. King Shang of Lu discovered him when he robbed this grave and took it off. That’s why he became like this. Once you wear this jade armour, you shed your skin every five hundred years and only during shedding can the armour be taken off. If not, you would become a blood zombie. This living corpse before you has been living for more than three thousand years. If you so much as pulled a string off, it would have zombified and killed all of us.
33. “You’ve lived long enough. Now die.”
34. “Why do you care?” [In response to Wu Xie: “Who the h.e.l.l are you and what do you have against this corpse?”]
35. “Everything you wish to know is in that box.”
36. “Of course not. Because in the end, the one lying in the jade armour was not King Shang but he himself.”
37. “He was a calculating person and only wanted to use King Shang’s power to achieve his own goals of immortality.”
38. “I didn’t experience it.” Pokerface shook his head. “I robbed a Song Dynasty grave several years ago and I found a complete silk scroll from the Warring States, and that scroll was an autobiography of Mr. Iron-face. After giving the instructions to King Shang, he burned his whole family and threw a beggar into the fire in place of himself while he dressed up as a beggar to avoid death. The king knew something was wrong but he couldn’t do anything. Finally, he waited for the king to be buried, easily sneaked into the tomb, dragged the powerless king out of the jade armour and got in himself. Everything the king had done ended up going to him and he never even saw it coming.”
39. “He didn’t write about that in the scroll. Might be because the king hadn’t been in the armour for long enough to become a blood zombie.” His gaze looked a bit unnatural. “He only mentioned it briefly as an autobiography can only hold so much detail.”
40. “It’s almost daybreak. We should leave soon.”
41. “Easy. Let’s see what’s going on first.”
42. “Let’s go. This is bad news. I can’t control the carca.s.s bugs with the queen [bug] here.”
43. “It’s poisonous! Touch it and you’ll die! Get out of the way!”
44. “Don’t touch him. You’ll die!”
45. “No!”
46. “Hurry. There’s not much time left!”
[After escaping the tomb, Kylin was nowhere to be found and Wu Xie was so worried >o
Kylin killing a blood zombie. (His preferred method of killing is twisting the head off.)
Book 2
47. {Zhang, the Oscar-winning actor} “Honour to meet you. I’m Zhang.”
48. {Zhang, the Oscar-winning actor} “I wouldn’t say ‘expert.’ Just a lucky researcher who was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to publish a few theses. It’s nothing worth mentioning.”
49. {Zhang, the Oscar-winning actor} “If I may ask, what’s your role in this, Mr. Wu? Excuse my bluntness but your field of study is not the most popular, or perhaps I’m being ignorant, but I haven’t seen any of your works on archeological journals.”
50. {Zhang, the Oscar-winning actor} “You’re an architect? No wonder. We’re not from the same circle but our trades are similar. You build houses for the living; I study houses for the dead. There’s some connection there.”
51. {Zhang, the Oscar-winning actor} “Don’t move or I’ll kill him!” [He was being “controlled” by a sea demon at this time.]
52. {Zhang, the Oscar-winning actor} “Wu, I’ve got them under control. You go rescue her!”
53. {Zhang, the Oscar-winning actor} “Quick! You youngsters have to be brave!”
54. {Zhang, the Oscar-winning actor} “Holy s.h.i.+t!”
55. {Zhang, the Oscar-winning actor} “Ning! Ning!”
56. {Zhang, the Oscar-winning actor} “Our boat’s here. Let’s get out of here first.”
57. {Zhang, the Oscar-winning actor} “It’s the Paracel [Islands] after all. We can never get roasted fish like this back where I come from.”
58. {Zhang, the Oscar-winning actor} “Oh, a newcomer. I didn’t catch your name?” [He’s talking to Fats.]
59. {Zhang, the Oscar-winning actor} “Could you call me Mr. Zhang or Professor Zhang?”
60. {Zhang, the Oscar-winning actor} “Well, cultured people and unrefined people are all people. I mean cultured people were all unrefined once. We just have different jobs, that’s all.”
61. {Zhang, the Oscar-winning actor} “So what do you do, Mr. w.a.n.g?” [Fats’ last name is w.a.n.g.]
62. {Zhang, the Oscar-winning actor} “Ah, a crimefighter. Pardon my earlier actions.”
63. {Zhang, the Oscar-winning actor} “Say, cap’n [of the boat], I tore the shoulders off of your so-called Dragon King’s relative with one shot. Does that make me the Monkey King?” [The Monkey King stormed the Dragon King’s palace and wrecked it.]
64. {Zhang, the Oscar-winning actor} “What is that?”
65. {Zhang, the Oscar-winning actor} “Zongzi? Like the Jiaxing Wufangzhai brand zongzi?”
[It was revealed that this person who Wu Xie had thought was a bald, short archeologist was actually Kylin.]
66. “Don’t worry. It’s fine.”
67. “That woman purposely stepped on it. I guess she not only had confidence in herself but she wanted to finish us all.”
68. “I don’t know either but I knew they were lotus arrows from your wounds. I can’t think of any other reason. Perhaps the owner of this tomb wanted to let us off easy, just to give us a warning.”
69. “The ghost in the jug wanted us to go to the room on the left first and there must be a reason for that. Let’s go step-by-step. We’re still on their territory now so don’t mess around.”
70. “He’s right. This seems to be another room. The infant coffin in the corner has disappeared too. The arrangement of burial items is very different, too. Also, look at the top–.”
71. “What did Uncle Three say when he pa.s.sed out? Say it again!”
72. “I see now…”
73. “This is a contraption, indeed, and it’s very simple. It can only fool amateurs. That’s why your uncle may not have seen through it twenty years ago, but did twenty years later.”
74. “I’ll give you an example. You’ll understand right away. If there’s a two-storey building with one room on each floor and you step out of the room on the second floor, now, say I build another floor beneath the first floor, when you come back into the room, the second floor room would be on the third floor and the first floor room would be on the second floor.”
75. “There is a major contradiction between what your uncle told us and our experience. I don’t know if you’ve noticed.”
76. “Your uncle was lying here and never went out to the corridor. No matter how the rooms rise or fall he should have only been in this room. So how could it have changed?”
77. “Also, the side chambers are always symmetrical. There can never be just one. So logically, there should be another one across from us.”
78. “There’s still a long time before low tide. I’m not sure if the oxygen in here can last us until then. It’s up to the G.o.ds now.”
79. “Do not speak.”
80. “This is not the average coffin. This is a coffin for raising zombies.”
81. “Actually, there is only one person in here.”
82. “Look carefully at the differences between its ‘heads.’”
83. “There are always exceptions.”
84. “Is this the left or right side?”
85. “c.r.a.p!”
86. “Guns won’t kill it! Just run!”
87. “It was just a white-haired drought demon. It can be killed by decapitation but a large amount of poison would be released. With our limited oxygen, it was not worth it.”
88. “I think I’ve been here!”
89. “I remember now what happened twenty years ago!”
90. {Twenty year ago} “Don’t know.” (Xiaoge’s memories)
91. {Twenty year ago} “Don’t worry. I can take care of myself!”
92. {Twenty year ago} “I’ll think about it. Be right back.”
93. {Twenty year ago} “Let go.”
94. {Twenty year ago} “Thanks!”
95. {Twenty year ago} “I’m Zhang! Don’t talk! Just look down for yourself!”
96. {Twenty year ago} “Watch the steps! Don’t let him go up!”
97. {Twenty year ago} [His] knowledge of traps and contraptions in ancient Chinese graves exceed any other person alive on earth. (Original narration.)
98. {Twenty year ago} “Did you find something [an idea, perhaps]?”
99. {Twenty year ago} “That’s not important. Look!”
100. “When I woke up, I was lying on a hospital bed. I didn’t remember anything, I didn’t know anything until a few months later when I started getting short snippets. Then a few years pa.s.sed before I found that something was wrong with my body.”
101. “I still cannot tell you what it is but when I met your uncle three months ago, I thought he looked familiar. So I went to King Shang’s grave with you to remember more of the past.”
102. “And while at King Shang’s grave, I noticed some very fishy things about your uncle!”
103. “The gold silk scroll that you guys got out from the Green Bronze coffin is actually a fake. The real one had already been switched out by your uncle.”
104. “No, not your uncle himself but he and Big Kui. They drilled a hole in the back of the tree all the way to the bottom of the coffin. That’s probably why Big Kui had to die.”
105. “If that person really is your uncle, then he definitely has no motive. But–.”
106. “Looks like there’s a change of plans. There’s no time. Let’s get out [of this room] and see from there!”
107. “Someone’s jammed the door from the other side!”
108. “It’s going to take at least another ten minutes to go over and we don’t have that much time left. Let’s go up!”
109. “Don’t think too much. We still have time. Do you still remember the holes underneath that coffin?”
110. “No. No grave robber would drill holes through the walls when he can just use the corridors in the tomb. There must have been a reason for him to do so: he was faced with a situation that forced him to drill for his life.”
111. “Any person faced with this kind of situation would first run to the exit, and when he finds that the doors have been blocked, he would be forced to drill holes. So the opening must be around here. But if he drilled it on the other side, then we can’t do much else.”
112. “Xie Lianhuan was part of the archeological team, too. The one who died in the coral reefs with a snake-browed copper fish.”
113. “Well, he left the writing here and didn’t get squished to death which means the hole must be nearby. Now’s not the time to figure out what his message means. Let’s keep going.”
114. “The chances of that are not high unless the indicator of the Door of Life has been switched around. Judging from the danger we were just in, we probably gone through the Door of Death.”
115. “Well, I do have a theory. If you mind so much why don’t you hear me out.”
116. “First, let’s say that your uncle and Xie Lianhuan knew each other twenty years ago and may even have been good friends. It’s just that they didn’t show it. Xie Lianhuan might have already found the undersea grave the first time we went scouting but he didn’t tell anyone except Wu Sansheng [Uncle Three].”
117. “I don’t get it either. But maybe he didn’t think there was a need to kill the rest of us because after all, we didn’t know anything.”
118. “No. I think what he said is certainly possible. Those things certainly have happened in ancient graves before.”
119. “This isn’t good. There’s more to the lotus-shaped arrow from before.”
120. “A fork road.”
121. “Don’t scream! Where’s the water demon?” [The water demon tried to kiss Wu Xie and was stopped by Kylin ;D]
122. “Do you have a light? It fears fire!”
123. “It was probably a jinpo.”
124. “I don’t know how these things are made but there are many legends about them in this region. I’m pretty sure about it.”
125. “Jinpo are born of the water. I know it’s definitely scared of fire. Other than that, I’m not too sure. Like with zongzi, we only know they are afraid of donkey hooves but no one knows why they are. I didn’t expect that thing to have the capacity to think. We have to be careful. It’s probably still hiding somewhere back there.”
126. “This is the end [of the path].”
127. “I might have to go in again.”
128. “I’m different from you two. What happened here might just be a strange experience to you but for me it’s a puzzle I must solve. Even if I regain my memories, I wouldn’t live an easy life not knowing the truth.”
129. “Then how confident are you that we will get out of here alive?”
130. “After her!”
131. “Wait. Something is wrong with her!”
132. “Don’t worry. Her body is fine. It’s just her mind is not right. Possibly from something traumatic.”
133. “Stop arguing. Her pupils are slow to react. It’s much more serious than just ‘scared s.h.i.+tless.’ She can’t be faking it.”
134. “I don’t know too much. I only heard it during my own check-up. I can’t make any more judgements. That would be a hospital’s job.”
135. “All of you follow me. Don’t fall behind.”
136. “Don’t move.”
137. “Do you still remember where we’ve seen these bells?”
138. “Something was definitely wrong with the carca.s.s cave. The cave was a huge tomb chamber to begin with, but I’m not sure how it relates to w.a.n.g Zanghai.”
139. “Now that you mention it, there is that possibility.”
140. “No one knows what he did in his earlier years. Plus, he was knowledgeable in fengshui, so robbing graves would be a breeze for him. But I remember that he came from a fairly good background: his family was fengshui masters for many generations, made good money and didn’t have a need to do this kind of petty work.” (Xiaoge is also degrading himself here.)
141. “I was paying attention too. There really were no signs.”
142. “It’s solid.”
143. “Hold on! Stay here for now! I think I know where there’s more dynamite!”
144. “Come down and give me a hand.”
145. “Do not go near it for your life. If the contraption inside still works, it’ll activate with the lightest touch.”
146. “Demonic.” [He is finis.h.i.+ng Wu Xie’s sentence here; Wu Xie couldn’t find the adjective to describe the corpse mentioned in #147.]
147. “I don’t get it either. This body gives me an uneasy feeling but he has been dried; he can’t turn [into a zombie.]”
148. “As long as the [thing that the Buddha corpse is holding] turns, the dynamite would work too. Let’s just hope the mechanism hasn’t been worn out by time.”
149. “You all right?” [He said this to Wu Xie of course ;D]
150. “No, it wasn’t me!”
151. “There’s no time. Leave it.”
152. “He’s not the first to do so. A couple of royal tombs from the Shang and Zhou, and the tomb of Qin the First had them too. It’s completely expected, especially for someone like w.a.n.g Zanghai.”
Cosplay of jinpo.
Book 4
153. “s.h.i.+t! Cut the rope! Someone fell into [a crevice in] the snow!”
154. “Hmm?”
155. “Strange. It’s hollow behind this dragon head.”
156. “Huh?” [Here is when Xiaoge disappeared right before Wu Xie’s eyes.]
157. “Maybe.”
158. “How about this?”
159. “Follow me and don’t make a sound.”
160. “Don’t you find it weird? We’ve all become more frustrated after getting here. Even Wu Xie is angry.” [I knew Kylin noticed Wu Xie more than others >;)]
161. “I’m not sure but I doubt it’s just a simple magnet. What we need to do now is stay calm. There was no point in your argument just now. If this is a trap–”
162. “w.a.n.g Zanghai put in all the effort in designing this place. He let us in knowing we likely won’t be able to make it back out.”
163. “There’s something in the smoke.”
164. “Run and don’t look back! No matter what falls on you. Don’t stop ‘til you get out. Now go!”
165. “I’m going in. This is the end. You all should turn back. Past this point is a place that you cannot conquer. Everything you want to know is on the bronze fish.”
166. “Goodbye.” [He mouths this to Wu Xie only before going into the Gates with demon soldiers (pic below).]
Book 5
167. “Don’t move!” [Wu Xie ran into him in an abandoned sanatorium and Kylin was covering his mouth from behind and the two were right against each other!!!! *nose bleed*]
168. “It didn’t come out after us.”
169. “Why are you here?”
170. “It’s a long story.”
171. “Let’s go!”
172. “Go home. There’s nothing for you to do here. Don’t go to the sanatorium again. The things inside are too dangerous.”
173. “You cannot possibly understand me. I’m looking for answers too.”
174. “When did she tell you these things?”
175. “How is she?”
176. “What do you want?”
177. “I won’t answer that.”
178. “Don’t you think that’s strange of you? Why must I tell you about my secrets?”
179. “Why have you come, Wu Xie? You shouldn’t have been involved in this. Your uncle has already done a lot for you. This isn’t business you should be minding.”
180. “Have you ever considered the reason why they don’t want you to know?”
181. “Well, sometimes people tell lies to protect the person. He might not be able to handle the truth.” [Such foreshadowing, Kylin! TAT]
182. “I understand.”
183. “I actually understand better than you do. There are far more things I want to know than you but I don’t have someone to interrogate like you do.”
184. “I don’t have a past or a future. Everything I do is to find my connection to this world. Where did I come from and why am I here?”
185. “Could you imagine someone like me? If I disappeared from this earth, no one would notice. It’s just like I never existed. Sometimes I look at the mirror and wonder if I’m really alive or I’m just some person’s phantom.” [To which Wu Xie said: “If you disappeared, at least I would notice!” *cries*]
186. “Perhaps I will tell you when I find the answer to my questions but clinging onto me won’t bring you answers to your questions. As of now, everything is a mystery to me too. I think you have enough questions; you don’t need anymore.”
187. “I’m just doing what w.a.n.g Zanghai did.”
188. “I saw the ultimatum inside—the ultimatum of all being.”
189. “Also, I’m on your side.” [*cries*]
190. “I’m not sure what kind of animal this is. It was very large and possibly died from infection from these bugs’ bites. It rested on the tree before dying and this attracted all the bugs around it. After sucking it dry, the bugs went to sleep on the corpse awaiting their next meal.”
191. “This is a large tree serpent that devoured a person. The flashlight belonged to that person.”