LRAB Page 69
Page 69
The air was extremely cold, and every breath was like being cut by a knife, as if my lungs were about to freeze.
Exposed metal equipment (such as geological hammers and rock bolts) were instantly covered with a thick layer of white frost, emitting a faint "crackling" sound.
The ground beneath our feet was covered with a layer of hard, slippery black ice, which made a teeth-grinding "crunch" sound when stepped on.
The beams of the prospecting lamps struck the ice surface, reflecting cold, fragmented light spots that added to the eerie atmosphere.
The cave walls are not natural rock, but rather traces of human excavation, rough and steep, and also covered with a thick shell of black ice.
Huge, rusty metal supports, like the ribs of a giant beast, extend from the cave ceiling and sides. Many of them are completely covered by ice, twisted and deformed, silently telling the story of the disasters that have occurred here or the erosion of time.
A soft "crack" sound came from above from time to time. It was the icicles hanging from the cave ceiling breaking and falling due to the weight. They smashed into ice crystals on the ice surface, which looked like miniature ice storms in the beam of light.
The further you go in, the more open the space becomes, but the cold also intensifies.
The deep rumble emanating from the depths, like the friction of a massive metal structure or the heavy breathing of a creature, grew clearer and clearer. Each vibration seemed to strike the depths of the soul, bringing an indescribable sense of oppression.
The occasional sharp hissing sound, like fingernails scraping against glass, sent shivers down one's spine.
A thin layer of white frost had formed on the surface of the black combat suit of Stand One and the suit of Stand Two, but their inhuman bodies had a much higher tolerance for low temperatures than ordinary people, and their movements were not slowed down in the slightest.
Apart from the unusually cold, everything here seems normal.
Zhang Su carefully observed the environment through his stand-in, while Yuan Shu continuously scanned and analyzed, marking the thickness of the ice layer, the structural stability, and the direction of the source of the strange sound waves.
They continued along the river, venturing deeper into the river.
After walking for about twenty minutes, the mine began to slope gently downhill, and in the deep darkness ahead, there seemed to be some faint light source flickering.
The light was very peculiar; it was neither the warm yellow of flames nor the stark white of a prospecting lamp, but a cool, almost transparent silvery-white.
'Hmm? There's light?' Zhang Su's heart skipped a beat. 'Could it be that besides me, someone else dares to venture deep into this place at this time? Or perhaps... the one mentioned in the ghost stories?'
Driven by curiosity, he immediately sped up the process of creating the double.
Like a nimble black panther, the stand-in accelerated nimbly across the ice, the beam of her prospecting lamp swaying violently as she ran.
The second stand-in maintained a silent, rapid pace, the wide hem of his clothes creating a cold whirlwind.
As the distance closed, the silvery-white light grew brighter and clearer.
It does not originate from a single point light source, but rather from an area that has been illuminated.
Finally, they rushed down the last slope, and a bright and open view appeared before them!
This is a huge, underground-hall-like mine space with a towering dome filled with inverted icicles that look like giant white fangs.
In the center of the cave, a "river" about five or six meters wide flows quietly.
The river water was incredibly clear and transparent, radiating a soft, silvery-white glow in the darkness, like liquid moonlight!
It was the light of the river that illuminated the entire cave!
However, Zhang Su's attention was instantly drawn to an even more shocking sight on the riverbank—
Corpses were everywhere!
Along both sides of the riverbank, dozens, or even hundreds, of frozen corpses in various poses were densely distributed!
Most of them maintained their final postures: some were curled up in a ball, hugging themselves tightly, their heads buried between their knees, trying to resist the irresistible cold; others had taken off... all... their clothes, stiffly stretching out, as if futilely grasping at something; still others lay face down on the ground, one hand outstretched in despair...
Without exception, their clothes were covered with thick white frost and ice crystals, and their skin had an eerie bluish-purple color, covered with large, dark red frostbite patches that resembled marble patterns.
Many of the corpses had unusually calm facial expressions, even a hint of eerie serenity, as if they had fallen into an eternal slumber in the extreme cold.
This tranquility forms a chilling contrast with the brutality of the surrounding environment.
Backpacks, water bottles, rusty pickaxes, broken ropes, and even a few extinguished kerosene lamps scattered on the ground... these items, half-buried in ice, silently tell the story of the hopes their owners had when they came here, only to be turned into cold sculptures in the end.
Zhang Su's heart sank. These were the people who had searched for the treasure at the "end of the river"... They hadn't found the gold, but they had found an eternally frozen tomb.
The beam of the prospecting lamp from Substitute One slowly swept across the horrific scene, finally settling on the silvery river.
The river water is crystal clear, and you can clearly see the pebbles and aquatic plants on the riverbed.
But what made Zhang Su's pupils shrink even more was—
Beneath the mirror-like surface of the water, a huge, full moon, radiating a cool, clear light, was clearly reflected!
This is an abandoned mine pit deep underground!
Above us was an impenetrable layer of rock and ice! How could there possibly be a moon in the sky?!
Where does this light, this reflection, come from?!
An indescribable chill, more piercing than the low temperature of the mine itself, instantly seized Zhang Su's consciousness.
He manipulated the gaze of his stand-in number one, following the reflected moonlight, and slowly moved it towards the bank upstream of the river.
He saw it through the interplay of the No. 1 prospecting lamp and the spontaneous glow of the river!
On that deserted riverbank, covered in frost and frozen corpses, several blurry figures were clearly reflected in the moonlight!
The figures, in a loose line, heads down, their steps stiff and slow, were moving silently along the riverbank, towards the depths of the mine and upstream of the river, as if sleepwalking!
Their figures appeared ethereal and elusive in the reflection, but their mechanical walking posture perfectly matched the scene of "walking on the bottom of the river" described in ghost stories!
"Hiss..." Even with Zhang Su's composure, he couldn't help but control his stand-in to gasp for breath.
The ghost stories are real!
The missing person walking on the riverbed was not physically submerged, but appeared in the illogical moonlight reflection in a strange "reflection" form!
The moonlight and reflections are the "screen," the riverbank is the "stage," and the souls of the missing are endlessly repeating their final journeys on this illusory stage!
Stand One and Stand Two stopped in their tracks, standing like two cold sculptures on the edge of this suffocating and eerie scene composed of frozen corpses, moonlight reflections, and ghostly traces.
Zhang Su's mind raced: What is the light source? Why is there a reflection of the full moon?
Are the figures in the reflections real or illusions? What triggers the mechanism that drags people into the water? Do we really need to shout out their names?
He didn't dare to act rashly.
The scene before us, which defies the laws of physics, likely contains abnormal rules and a level of danger that far exceeds previous estimates.
The double's gaze was sharp as an eagle's. Through the beam of the prospecting lamp, he carefully scanned the figures walking in the reflections, trying to discern details of their clothing or facial features.
The second stand-in raised his head slightly, and the shadow under the brim of his hat seemed to become even deeper. An invisible "aura" began to slowly spread out from him.
He was silently probing and sensing the abnormal energy and distorted rules permeating this space.
The heavy rumble and occasional shrieks from the depths of the mine still echoed, forming an eerie duet with the strange silence before our eyes.
The exploration has only just scratched the surface of this abyss's mystery.
Book 2: Chapter 21: The Night Watch, Mysterious Laws, and Unspoken Rules
Deep within the frigid mine, only the sound of flowing water and the faint thud of boots on frozen ground echoed.
Zhang Su controlled two stand-ins, standing in a relatively open area.
On the riverbank, several ice sculptures of corpses in various poses, frozen in the pale moonlight reflected from headlamps and the river, embody the final struggles and despair of life.
Zhang Su did not rush forward.
His mind stirred slightly, and his consciousness sank deep into his mind.
“Source,” he called silently, “scan the surroundings and assess potential dangers.”
A cold, mechanical female voice rang out almost instantly, carrying a subtle, almost imperceptible quality reminiscent of a data stream:
[Scanning in progress. Environmental analysis: No signs of life activity. Energy field stable, no spatial distortion warning. Anomalous residual energy confirmed (source: river mirror space), activity at a low threshold. No intention of active attack detected.]
Three seconds later, the conclusion is clearly presented:
[Overall Assessment: No potential danger in the current area. The stand-in unit can proceed safely.]
Zhang Su's gaze swept over the stiff corpses. "Yuan Shu, are there any superhumans among these corpses? Are they still of any value?"
Yuan Shu replied: [Analysis of residual energy traces...confirms the existence of three Sequence 10 level transcendental remains. Transcendental characteristics have been extracted and removed. No personal belongings remain. The remains are of no further value for exploration.]
"As expected." Zhang Su wasn't surprised. This place wasn't too far from the mine entrance. Although it was bitterly cold, it wasn't inaccessible to those who came prepared (or crazy enough). Valuable loot had long since been looted by later arrivals or certain beings, like carrion under the feet of vultures.
His attention returned to the river that exuded an eerie aura. The moonlight reflected in the water was too bright, too steady, like a huge piece of cold jade embedded in a dark mine, while the row of figures walking with their heads down silently repeated their eternal journey.
"Yuan Shu, analyze the current anomalies in the river. From the information you can retrieve, tell me what's going on? What are those shadows in the water?"
[Amidst the deluge of information...] Source immediately began retrieving fragments from the invisible ocean of data. [Conclusion: The core mechanism of the current river anomaly is 'mirror space projection.' Influenced by the anomalous forces at its source, the river forms an independent subspace in its reflection layer. The walking figures reflected in the water are the remnants of souls captured and killed by this space.]
[Bound by the rules of space, the remnant soul engages in meaningless, cyclical walking. Its presumed purpose is to attract the attention of living beings on the shore. When a living being gazes at its reflection in the water and approaches, its capture mechanism is triggered. The remnant soul then breaks through the water's boundary, dragging the living being into the mirrored space and completing assimilation.]
"How terrifying..." Zhang Su murmured in his mind, "It's like water ghosts taking lives. Yuan Shu, do they only target humans when they drag people into the water? Or do they target any living creature?"
[Target determination of the capture mechanism: any individual with vital signs.] Yuan Shu's answer was devoid of emotion, yet it revealed a more terrifying truth: [Bacteria, microorganisms, insects, animals, humans… anything with vital signs is within the capture range. This mechanism is a crucial component of the river's 'purification' ability: by capturing and transforming all living things (including microscopic life forms), it achieves absolute sterility of the water.]
[Irrelevant contaminants and toxins that cannot dissolve in water are suppressed and precipitated by spatial forces, turning into silt-like sediment at the bottom of the river. The remaining solid waste is then carried deeper into the mine by the water flow.]
"Wow, that's amazing!" Zhang Su couldn't help but exclaim after hearing this. "So this river is a giant automatic sterilization and purification system? And all the water flowing out is sterile?"
"Yes," Yuan Shu affirmed. "Simulation analysis shows that all indicators of this section of the river water meet the highest level of sterile water standards."
Zhang Su's gaze fell on the two substitutes he controlled. They stood quietly by the river, their flawless Eastern faces appearing somewhat ethereal in the moonlight. "So here's the question, Yuan Shu. These two substitutes of mine were created using 'Tai Sui.' Are they considered living beings now? If they get close to the river, will they be attacked by the remnants of those water ghosts?"
[The substitute is composed of sealed 'Tai Sui' active tissue. It possesses weak but stable vital activity characteristics. It meets the 'living being' criteria of the Mirror Space capture mechanism.]
[WARNING: If you control your Stand to approach the riverbank and gaze at its reflection, or make any noise, there is a very high probability that the capture mechanism will be triggered. The Stand will be dragged into the mirror space. Due to the constraints of the spatial rules and the possibility that the connection between the Stand and its user may be severed by an abnormal force, the Director will most likely permanently lose that Stand. Do not attempt this.]
"Understood!" Zhang Su replied immediately, his voice firm and resolute. "I will absolutely not let them get near the river!"
He immediately manipulated his two doubles, like precision machines receiving the highest command, to retreat a few steps in sync and quickly, away from the seemingly calm but deadly riverbank.
They turned and, with silent but firm steps, continued along the river into the deeper darkness of the mine.
The light from the headlamp seemed like a drop in the ocean in the deep mine.
Fortunately, the strange river itself became the most stable and brightest source of light.
The moonlight reflected in the river was constant and pale, like a cold, fluorescent ribbon spread out in the dark tunnel, clearly outlining the slippery riverbank and the rugged road ahead.
The stand-ins could almost turn off their headlamps and see their feet clearly with just this eerie "moonlight".
As we continued along the riverbank, the number of scattered ice sculptures did not decrease. Some were huddled in corners, while others lay fallen along the way, each with a different posture. The only thing they had in common was that they were all covered by a thick, murky shell of ice, their faces blurred beneath the ice, exuding a deathly tranquility.
Zhang Su manipulated his stand-in to carefully observe each passing corpse.
He noticed that although the bodies were frozen stiff, their clothing was mostly intact, with no obvious signs of tearing or damage.
Their body postures were mostly curled up or collapsed due to the cold, rather than due to violent attacks.
Through the translucent ice, he could even see the frozen expressions on the faces of some corpses, not of fear, but of extreme exhaustion and numbness, as if they had fallen into a deep sleep in the boundless cold.
"Did they all freeze to death?" Zhang Su muttered to himself. "Just how cold is this place? Judging from their clothes, they must have prepared before coming in, wrapped up quite thickly... yet they still couldn't withstand it." He thought with some regret, "It's a pity that the stand-in can't feel the temperature, otherwise I really want to experience what it's like to be 'frozen to the bone' myself."
After walking for about ten more minutes, the space ahead suddenly opened up.
The river appears to have carved out an even larger underground cavern here.
The pale moonlight reflected off the river, illuminating this much larger area.
The scene here is far more impactful than the previous minor skirmishes.
Corpses, more corpses!
They are no longer scattered, but rather piled up on the relatively flat riverbank as if pushed to the shore by an invisible tide, forming a chilling "mound of corpses".
Dozens, or even hundreds, of ice sculptures, frozen together in contorted poses, layer upon layer, seem to be the final freeze-frame of a silent disaster.
They were covered in ice, which reflected a faint, cold light, creating a scene that was both terrifying and eerie.
However, at the edge of this ice-sculpted forest formed by death, near the center of the giant cave, a figure suddenly entered Zhang Su's senses.
That was not an ice sculpture.
It was a living, breathing entity—or rather, one that had only recently solidified.
He was wearing a heavy, almost dark hooded robe, kneeling on one knee with his back to the river and the direction from which the doubles had come.
The posture resembled both prayer and observation of the ground. Tiny ice crystals, seemingly formed from partially frozen water vapor, lingered at the hem of the robe, shimmering faintly in the "moonlight."
The figure remained motionless, like another statue, but Zhang Su could clearly sense that he was completely different from the lifeless ice sculptures around him—there was no utter stillness there, but rather a faint aura of the extraordinary.
Zhang Su guessed that he might still be alive.
His heart leaped into his throat. He immediately controlled his two doppelgangers to stop and silently disappear into the shadow of a huge stalactite pillar, their headlamps already extinguished.
The stand-ins' cold eyes, like the most sophisticated detectors, pierced through the dim light and locked onto the mysterious black-robed figure.