The cave possessed a distinct character; while tall, it was not wide, the floor relatively flat save for occasional piles of rubble and shallow pools of water. It was a single, unbroken passage, unlike the labyrinthine network of side tunnels in Anle Cave, which greatly aided our progress.

But the length of this tunnel was staggering. We had been traveling within it for at least four or five hours, yet there was not the faintest glimmer of light ahead. We had no idea if a true exit existed, and if it did, how far away it might be; if not, where exactly were we headed?

As I walked, I occasionally held my torch up to the cave walls, but I found no further carvings or murals. If this nameless grotto hadn't so clearly lacked any sign of human intervention, I would have suspected it was merely an abandoned service tunnel.

Having suffered so much in Anle Cave and encountering numerous bizarre and unsettling phenomena, here in this cavern, aside from a silence that frayed the nerves, we hadn't met anything truly unclean. Hua'er, moreover, trotted happily ahead without a sound. As time wore on, both Tan Ping'er and I grew bolder, shaking off our fear and quickening our pace.

Although this was a single passage, it was not straight; it twisted and coiled like a slumbering dragon beneath the earth. The further we progressed, the wider and taller the cavern grew, which significantly boosted my confidence. Analyzing the trend, perhaps an exit was not far ahead after all.

Our sole hope now was that this exit would arrive sooner, and soon!

Despite our silent pleas for an exit to appear, the darkness ahead remained profound. After yet another long stretch, a thought suddenly struck me, causing me to halt abruptly. I turned to Tan Ping'er and asked, "We only noticed how winding this cave is, but we haven't noted the overall topographical trend—is the ground generally sloping up or down?"

Tan Ping'er linked her arm through mine and remained silent for a long moment before answering, "It should be going down!"

"Down?"

"Yes!"

"That means we are descending deeper the further we walk?"

"I know what you're worried about, but think about it: we fell from Yumuzhai, and Yumuzhai is high up on a mountain. So, the fact that the terrain slopes downward here should mean we are heading toward the foot of the mountain!"

I nodded. That possibility existed, of course, but after traveling for half a day without even a shadow of an exit, my mind remained unsettled. Tan Ping'er, however, seemed unconcerned and tugged me forward.

I had no choice but to compose myself, bolster my courage, and grope our way forward in the dark. As I walked, a morbid thought crossed my mind: What if this leads to the underworld? But then again, with the beauty Tan Ping'er accompanying me, and the loyal Hua'er by our side, even if the Hall of Yama lay ahead, I wouldn't have any regrets.

Thinking of the Hall of Yama, and the ghost stories my grandfather told me as a child, my heart began to flutter again. I strained my ears, listening to the surrounding sounds, thinking that if the Ox-Head and Horse-Face guards were coming to escort us, they should at least give us fair warning—don't just jump out and leave us unprepared. To die from fright when we weren't even dead yet would be a terrible waste!

Lost in these thoughts, I walked on. Suddenly, Tan Ping’er stopped dead in her tracks. My mind had just conjured the faces of those two old brothers, Ox-Head and Horse-Face, and Tan Ping’er's sudden tug jerked me out of my daze, causing a cold sweat to erupt. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Eagle, listen," Tan Ping'er whispered, leaning close to my ear. "Do you hear something?"

"A sound? What sound?"

"Just listen, and you'll know!"

Instead of following her advice and straining my ears for the sound she mentioned, I anxiously cried out, "Hua'er! Hua'er!" Hua'er had vanished at some unknown point, and there was no sound of barking. "Damn dog, where did it run off to?" Based on our experience in Anle Cave, if a strange sound suddenly appeared, the so-called 'Half-Puppets' would inevitably follow, leading to a heart-stopping confrontation. Experience proved that although Hua'er sometimes trembled like a leaf in front of the 'Half-Puppets,' its eyes were exceptionally sharp. If there were any unclean entities in the darkness, Hua'er would certainly give a warning. If it was completely silent now, there was only one possibility: the 'Half-Puppet' was too formidable; Hua'er's teeth couldn't hold it, hence the silence!

The thought made my mind go numb. I gripped Tan Ping'er tightly, a thousand thoughts racing through my head. The battle was imminent; what weapons should we use? My trousers? No, no, I couldn't use that trick all the time, especially now with Tan Ping'er present and sober—it would be too inconvenient. Fir bark? That stuff was useless against them... Damn it, why hadn't I lit the fir bark torch yet? If something unclean was truly present, it definitely wouldn't let me light it. Conversely, if the torch could be lit, it would prove there were no 'Half-Puppets' after all.

I hurriedly pulled out my lighter, preparing to ignite the torch, but the reality of the situation caused a cold sweat to break out. The lighter's electronic nozzle only spat out a few sparks; no bright flame appeared. In my agitation, I accidentally dropped the lighter on the ground. Panicked, I squatted down to search for it, groping around but failing to find it after a sweep.

With this unforeseen complication, I was certain: the Half-Puppets had arrived!

Having accepted the fact, I calmed down instead. I stopped wasting energy fumbling for the fallen lighter, stood up, gripped the fir bark tightly, held Tan Ping’er with one arm, and stared fixedly ahead—which was, in reality, only pitch-black inkiness. If my nostrils hadn't continued to draw breath, I would have believed Tan Ping'er and I were submerged in thick ink.

During my frantic fumble, Tan Ping’er hadn't moved an inch, nor had she asked what I was doing. I worried she might have met with some misfortune and quickly prodded her. "Ping'er... Are you alright?" It was only then, as I spoke, that I noticed my own teeth chattering nervously.

"I'm listening to that sound! Be quiet..." Tan Ping’er murmured softly.

Hearing her voice sounded normal, I felt a measure of relief. I hushed myself and listened intently to the sound Tan Ping'er indicated. Listening closely, I indeed perceived a thread of an extremely faint sound meandering through the ethereal, inky blackness. If this cavern were a club, that sound was as fine as a strand of cow hair, and so faint it seemed barely present, making me doubt whether both Tan Ping’er's and my ears were hallucinating.

How to precisely describe the content of this sound? I truly couldn't find a suitable phrase immediately. Overall, it vaguely resembled the music played just before a ghoul appears in a horror film—intense and stirring. But upon listening closely, you might delusionally realize the sound was merely the decadent music enjoyed by the grossly indulgent. Listen yet closer, and it seemed like an old woman singing a lullaby, interspersed with low, mournful weeping... This sound inevitably brought my thoughts back to the Hall of Yama!

"Ping... Ping'er, tell me honestly, are we already dead?"

Tan Ping'er hadn't expected such a question. In the darkness, she let out a soft chuckle, then breathed out like orchid fragrance, "If we truly are dead, would you regret it?"

"With you by my side, of course not! Alas, I just hadn't expected to die young. No wonder we can't leave this cave; this must be the legendary Yellow Springs Road! Let's stay here for a while then. After drinking the Soup of Oblivion, I won't remember you anymore..."

"What are you talking about? I said 'If'!" Tan Ping’er chuckled again.

"Ah? So, we really aren't dead?"

"Dead my foot!" Tan Ping’er said, sounding both exasperated and amused, using a local dialect. "Why do you always jump to thinking about death?"

"Then what about that sound ahead?"

"I only heard snippets and couldn't make sense of it. Let's go forward and check it out. Who cares? Even if we reach the netherworld, can we still walk back?"

"That is true... Well, let's go!"

After our exchange, I finally believed we were indeed still alive. Looking back later, my oscillating anxiety was actually the result of exhaustion and hunger muddling my thoughts.

Since the lighter couldn't be found, the torch couldn't be lit. We had no choice but to feel along the stone walls again, slowly tracing our way toward the direction of the sound. In reality, the sound was utterly elusive, and we couldn't pinpoint its origin. But since the passage remained a single tunnel, we eventually stopped paying attention to the sound altogether, merely moving forward mechanically by following the wall.

After walking for a long time, it felt like the cave took a sharp turn, and the sound suddenly grew much louder, accompanied by a faint, flickering, yellowish light some distance away. Tan Ping’er and I stopped abruptly, our eyes fixed on the hazy glow, straining to hear the sound—Huang ah, Fourth Sister, why are you shouting? I’ve brought you a silk handkerchief! Why would I need a silk handkerchief? To tie in your hair, dear, so you look lovely walking along! When you sit, someone will see you, my darling...

"'Huang Sijie'?" I muttered in surprise.

"What 'Huang Sijie'?" Tan Ping’er asked, biting my earlobe. "That’s a very famous local folk song from Xi Du called 'Sister Huang Si.' Heavens, who is singing 'Sister Huang Si' this deep inside a cave? It must be ghosts—yes, it must be spirits singing!"

"No wonder the singing sounds like a man and a woman are harmonizing!"

As Tan Ping’er and I chatted in low voices, our steps moved forward, and before we realized it, we had closed a significant distance toward that hazy yellow light. The singing of 'Sister Huang Si' had stopped. Several streams of light—blue, red, green, or purple—illuminated the roof of an ancient, stilted building, casting an eerie glow upon the yellow beams and black tiles.

While we were still puzzled, a high-pitched voice suddenly rang out: "Friends, wasn't that 'Sister Huang Si' sung by the elder brother and sister just now quite nice?" Following this, a thunderous cheer erupted: "Nice!" Then came a clamor of voices, mixed with humming, ha-haing laughter, and cries of "One more song! One more song!"

The same resonant voice followed: "Next, please enjoy the traditional Tujia dance—the Maogusi Dance..." After a burst of noise, huge, vibrant music roared out—the drumbeats sharp and passionate...

"Is this Tenglong Cave?" I shouted, my voice rising, my eyes widening abruptly!