After two or three minutes, that white smoke drifted back from inside the cave. This time, the white smoke seemed to have a spirit of its own. It first circled around each of us once, and when it reached Xiao Heshang, the old Taoist, he used his bleeding thumb to guide the white smoke toward the formation he had set up.
The white smoke ignored the four copper coins and floated straight into the wine cup. I watched clearly from the side—the few drops of fresh blood in Xiao Heshang's wine cup were gradually disappearing. Just as the blood inside the cup was about to vanish completely, Xiao Heshang suddenly pressed the wine cup down on the ground, and the white smoke outside instantly dissipated.
The wine cup trembled incessantly on the ground. Xiao Heshang held it down and placed the copper coins that were arranged around the perimeter of the formation, one by one, at the bottom of the wine bottle. At first, the wine cup still shook lightly several times. Only after the fourth coin was placed did the wine cup finally settle completely.
Sun Fatty and I had seen too many similar scenes at the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation, and we were already numb to this kind of formation. But Chief Xiong couldn't accept it at all. "Old Taoist Xiao, what kind of magic trick are you performing?"
"Just think of it as a magic trick," Xiao Heshang grinned with his teeth showing. "This kind of trick is usually invisible to most people, right, leaders?"
Sun Fatty and I both snorted simultaneously. Xiao Heshang's formation was probably a variant of the Four Directions Formation, but I still didn't understand why he pressed down the wine cup at the end. What exactly was being suppressed inside? Even with my Heavenly Eye, I couldn't see what was mixed within the white smoke.
Looking at Xiao Heshang's smug expression, it seemed like he was waiting for Sun Fatty and me to ask him proactively. Ask him? I sneered coldly in my heart. With hundreds of thousands of books in the Bureau's archives, I wouldn't… ask Ouyang Pianzuo?
Sun Fatty was always uninterested in formations. "Old Taoist, are you done? If so, let's move forward."
"Don't you want to know what just happened?" Despite the successful performance, there was no applause from the audience. That was the conflicted mood Xiao Heshang had now.
"No interest. Hey Old Xiao, are you coming or not?" I frowned and said. Seeing him look a little disappointed, I chuckled secretly — serves you right for not speaking up.
Chief Xiong, however, was very interested in the "magic trick" just now. "Old Taoist, how did you do that? Teach me a couple of moves, I want to play tricks on my kids at home." Xiao Heshang gave him a displeased look. "Are you here to learn tricks or come to save lives? Do you have a sense of priorities? Stop standing there and move forward!" Saying this, he got up and walked ahead carelessly.
Sun Fatty was stunned by Xiao Heshang's behavior. "Is the old man on fire? He was fine just a moment ago. What kind of madness is this?"
There was only one path out of the cave mouth. The four of us stepped out of the cave and continued along a narrow corridor. The farther we went, the colder it felt.
Sun Fatty suddenly said beside me, "Lazi, does it look familiar?" His sudden, out-of-the-blue question stunned me. "What looks familiar?"
He said, "The first time we met, the path inside the Water Curtain Cave—isn't it similar to this one?"
Sun Fatty referred to the path between the Water Curtain Cave and the Ghost Face Wall. With his reminder, I realized there was indeed some resemblance. "Pretty much the same, underground paths all have the same vibe."
Sun Fatty was about to say more when Xiao Heshang suddenly stopped in his tracks, and Sun Fatty almost bumped into him.
"You…" Sun Fatty was about to curse, but then saw Xiao Heshang's flashlight beam illuminating what lay ahead—a wide inner cave at the end of the corridor, filled with piles of gold bars, and several people collapsed in different corners. A towering figure sat in the center of the cave. Xiao Heshang's flashlight shone on his face—I could clearly see that this person's pupils were cloudy, clearly long dead.
Seeing the face clearly, Xiao Heshang's flashlight trembled. "Fro—Frozen Colossus…"
"What?" Sun Fatty didn't hear clearly. "Old Taoist, stop shaking your hand, you're making me dizzy!" He then stepped past Xiao Heshang, wanting to get a closer look. But Xiao Heshang grabbed him back. "Don't go! Come back, quickly!" He pulled and pushed Sun Fatty back.
"Old Taoist, what are you doing? I just want to take a look, I won't touch the gold on the ground—it's all yours, alright?" Sun Fatty was very unhappy with Xiao Heshang.
"Do you think I still care about gold?" Xiao Heshang muttered, his eyes fixed on the massive corpse.
I stepped closer too. The presence or absence of the flashlight made little difference to me. I carefully looked around. Besides the huge corpse, I saw nothing else unclean. "Old Xiao, I don't see anything wrong. What exactly is the matter?" I asked.
Xiao Heshang looked back at me. "Little Lazi, you see nothing?" Then he pointed at the huge corpse with some surprise, "Can't you tell there's something unusual about this corpse?"
I took a few more glances and said, "It's just ridiculously big. Nothing else." Xiong Ba also came over. He shone his flashlight on it for a long time and asked, "Is this still a human?" It's so tall when sitting, but it can be three or four meters when standing up, right?
I glanced again, "It's ridiculously huge, nothing else to add." Chief Xiong came closer too. He shone his flashlight on it for a long while. "Is this still a 'person'? Sitting this tall, standing up it must be three or four meters tall, right?"
"You really think it's still a 'person'?" Xiao Heshang's lips twitched slightly. He ignored Chief Xiong and spoke to me again, "You really see nothing at all?"
"Don't you see anything?"
"You think everyone's like you? Just born with the Heavenly Eye like that? I asked you down here to save trouble." After saying that, Xiao Heshang's eyes stayed fixed on the massive corpse without moving. After a long while, he exhaled deeply and muttered to himself, "There really is nothing, this is weird as hell. Is this really a Frozen Colossus? Not a trace of corpse qi."
Sun Fatty was confused, "Old Daoist, what exactly is this Frozen Colossus? I've never heard of it in the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation. Lazi, how about you? Have you ever seen any files about this Frozen Colossus in the archives?"
"No," I shook my head.
"Wait, what kind of unit is this Bureau of Paranormal Investigation you're talking about? I've never heard of such a department in the public security system." Chief Xiong sensed something was off. But Sun Fatty didn't take this little chief seriously at all, "There are plenty of departments in public security you haven't heard of. What right does a small chief like you have to interrupt? Old Daoist, tell us what this Frozen Colossus really is."
"The Frozen Colossus is a fusion of countless corpses and grudging spirits. It's not really a living being—it's dead as soon as it appears. It's a dark magic from the old Goryeo dynasty in Korea, where numerous frozen corpses were enchanted and placed in an extremely yin location. Shamans trapped their souls so they couldn't leave their bodies. Finally, a forbidden spell was cast that made them devour each other; usually one corpse would gnaw another clean. Then it would find another corpse to devour, and so on, until only one corpse 'survived.' At that point, its body would grow huge and emit extremely yin and freezing death qi from inside out. That is the Frozen Colossus."
After hearing Xiao Heshang's explanation about the Frozen Colossus, I still felt something was wrong. "You say this Frozen Colossus emits death qi? Why can't I feel anything? Da Sheng, what do you think?"
Sun Fatty rolled his eyes at me, "Lazi, who are you cursing? When have I ever used the Heavenly Eye?"
Xiao Heshang lowered his head, furrowing his brows, occasionally glancing at the Frozen Colossus. "Impossible. This is definitely a Frozen Colossus. How come I can't see its death qi at all?"
Chief Xiong lost his patience. He had been the first to come down and was already frozen stiff, stamping his feet on the spot, "Old Daoist, can we get in or not? Give me a clear answer. If we can, let's go in and see how those reckless bastards inside are doing. If not, say so. We'll turn back and figure out what to do next. Hurry up, no dilly-dallying!"
Xiao Heshang no longer hesitated, stamping his foot. "This is a one-shot deal! You three go in and check it out."
Sun Fatty chuckled with anger, "Heh, Old Daoist, you sure know how to plan well—a one-shot deal, and you expect us to go in? What about you?"
"You know nothing!" Xiao Heshang cursed while pulling out several items from his clothes: a small Bagua mirror, a set of copper coins, a bundle of red strings, a short stick of incense, and several talisman papers. "Without me, you'd be walking to your deaths." He arranged these items into a formation, the Bagua mirror facing the Frozen Colossus. "You go in, I'll guard the formation here. The moment there's any sign of trouble, I'll call you back. Just to be safe."
Sun Fatty looked doubtful but said to Xiao Heshang, "Really? If something happens, you won't run off first, right?"
"Am I that kind of person?"
"How would I know, I'm not close to you."
I pulled Sun Fatty aside, afraid this back-and-forth would never end. Chief Xiong followed closely. He didn't believe a word of Xiao Heshang's talk—it was all nonsense, just a corpse after all. He only kept silent out of face for me and Sun Fatty.
The three of us entered the inner cave, careful not to get too close to the Frozen Colossus. Inside, the six people lying on the ground were the same six who had gone down before. They were all dead cold, their expressions exactly like the grim faces Xiao Heshang had revealed when burning paper at the cave entrance.
I deliberately stepped closer to the Frozen Colossus but still felt nothing unusual about it. Just as we were about to carry out the six corpses, the cave suddenly began to shake violently. At first, I thought it was some movement from the Frozen Colossus, but then Xiao Heshang tumbled in hurriedly, "Collapse!"
Suddenly, a pile of large stones fell at the cave entrance, blocking it tightly. Luckily, Xiao Heshang was alert and rushed inside immediately.
"Damn, lucky to be alive, didn't die yet! Come help move the stones. We're not staying here, we'll figure out the rest outside!" Xiao Heshang shouted loudly.
Sun Fatty glanced at the rubble blocking the cave mouth, "Old Daoist, how did you manage this? You got the stones to fall but didn't get hit. The heavens have no eyes…"
I was heading to the cave entrance when suddenly my scalp tingled fiercely—I felt strongly that someone was watching us from the shadows. At that moment, Chief Xiong turned to speak to me but froze, pointing behind me speechlessly. I turned back to see the expression on the Frozen Colossus's face had changed—it was smiling at us with narrowed eyes. Instantly, a surge of overwhelming death qi spread throughout the cave.
"It… it's smiling!" Chief Xiong pointed at the Frozen Colossus, at a loss for words. I grabbed him and said, "I fucking saw it! Old Xiao! What now?"
Xiao Heshang answered with action—he grabbed the hunting rifle on his back and fired two shots at the Frozen Colossus.
"Bang! Bang!" The Frozen Colossus shook but then locked onto him as a target.
"Roar!" The Frozen Colossus let out a fierce roar, baring its teeth as it lunged at Xiao Heshang. Sun Fatty and I drew our pistols and fired several shots at its head. The bullets barely affected it, only a wisp of white smoke rising from the talisman inscriptions on the bullet tips. The Frozen Colossus seemed unfazed by pain and ignored us, relentlessly chasing after Xiao Heshang.
Though nearly seventy years old, Xiao Heshang's movements were nimble, far better than most guys in their twenties. Using the terrain inside the cave, he dodged and weaved, always staying seven or eight meters away from the Frozen Colossus, which couldn't catch him.
Gasping, Xiao Heshang shouted while running, "Don't just stand there! Do something!"
Chief Xiong, unfamiliar with this situation, finally reacted and grabbed the hunting rifle behind him. He took a few steps and fired a shot at the Frozen Colossus's head. "Bang!" Being close, the shot made the Frozen Colossus tilt to one side. When it looked back at Chief Xiong, the chief fired a second shot, hitting the monster right between the eyes, forcing it to retreat a few steps.
The two shots ignited flames on the Frozen Colossus. It paused, glaring unblinking at Chief Xiong. As Chief Xiong opened the rifle's chamber to reload, the Frozen Colossus suddenly opened its mouth, spraying a cloud of white gas towards him.