The 380 Utterances of Kylin Zhang Chapter 1

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.”

 

192. “And it’s a woman.”

 

193. “Go up and get them to come down to help dig this snake bone up. Let’s see who it is underneath.”

 

194. {In Wu Xie’s dream} “Yeah.” ['Cause Wu Xie dreams about Kylin >u<]>

 

195. {In Wu Xie’s dream} “How strange. I think it’s your dead body…”

 

196. “Give me the knife!”

 

197. “Jump now!”

 

198. “Tsk.”

 

199. “Lie down.”

 

200. “Run! There’s something off about these two snakes!”

 

201. “There probably had been a prosperous city here in this canyon in ancient times. After the queen’s country fell apart, the city was abandoned and the plumbing system broke down. The sewage welled up, plus the dirt, sand and gravel that the rain brings, the city became entirely buried under water. It seems that the scale of the queen’s city is quite large and we’ve only scratched the surface.”

 

202. “There’s only one trail of prints. That thing hasn’t left yet.”

 

203. “Snakes! Those c.o.c.k-comb snakes.” [This is a mythical creature said to kill whoever it meets. In this book they are described as snakes with a rooster comb-like nub on their heads.]

 

204. “My G.o.d. It’s Chen Wenjing!” [She is Uncle Three’s old lover who has been missing for twenty years.]

 

205. “Got anything to eat?”

 

206. “No. I put the mud on myself.”

 

207. “Because those snakes…”

 

208. “Wenjing has stayed here for a very long time and there are so many killer snakes here that there must be a reason why she has managed to stay alive for so long. Plus, her appearance was really unusual so I thought there must’ve been a relation between the two. With that in mind, I realised the mud was the key.”

 

209. “It was like this when you got here?”

 

210. “In a place like this, a few more or a few less makes no difference.”

 

211. “Wu Sansheng wrote it because he was sure we won’t be able to find it.”

 

212. “Wu Sansheng is extremely meticulous. He knew that we would know the entrance is nearby after seeing the message. He wouldn’t want Wu Xie to be in danger so if the entrance was easy to find then he wouldn’t have left anything at all. Him leaving the message only shows the impossibility of finding this entrance, or we won’t be able to go in even if we do find it.”

 

213. “It might be a good thing for you.”

 

214. “But there are ways of finding the entrance.”

 

215. “And the state of this campsite is very strange. It doesn’t look like a simple retreat. We probably shouldn’t trust Wu Sansheng’s words so easily.”

 

216. “If some stayed behind then there would be no need for a message. This kind of message is only left if given everyone is leaving. Plus, Wu Sansheng wouldn’t tell his men that they’re heading straight for their deaths—this is a definite no-no. He must have written it when all his men had left and those men were going to die with him.”

 

217. “Or maybe, they found the entrance because of that sudden emergency.”

 

218. “You aren’t alert enough. If our logic is right, you two won’t be able to react to the dangers of that emergency. I’ll keep watch the entire night tonight. You two get some rest.”

 

219. “That way most likely won’t work; we can forget about it.”

 

220. “Catching Wenjing.”

 

221. “No. She knows.”

 

222. “My gut.”

 

223. “I’m afraid so.”

 

224. “I thought about that, too. I already checked you[Fats] and Panzi when you were sleeping.” [They were speculating which one of the four (Kylin, Wu Xie, Fats and Panzi) was the mysterious “it” that Chen Wenjing was hiding from. PS. He doesn’t need to check Wu Xie because he knows Wu Xie anywhere! <3]>

 

225. “Nothing unusual.”

 

226. “So this is probably not the problem.”

 

227. “Is anything written about it on this?”

 

228. “No. If it’s objects, we did overlook one thing.”

 

229. “Go in more, farther away from the water!”

 

230. “It’s talking about the snakes.”

 

231. “I can’t understand it right away.”

 

232. “Have to spend some time on it.”

 

233. “This is…a war…”

 

234. “I know this person.”

 

235. “Eight horses…this is King Mu of Zhou.”

 

236. “No, they are mating.”

 

237. “Do you know what Lao Bao is?”

 

238. “That’s just slang. Lao Bao actually is a type of bird. In ancient times, people discovered that there were only female Lao Bao and no male ones. To reproduce, they can mate with birds of any species and be the wife of all the birds. That’s why we use Lao Bao to refer to prost.i.tutes.”

 

239. “However, in reality, the ancients were completely wrong about Lao Bao. There are male Lao Bao, actually, but the difference between the s.e.xes for this species was too big. The males are many times larger than the females so they were mistaken to be two different species.”

 

240. “Judging from the number, the smaller ones should be the male snakes and the larger ones the female. Of course, it could be the opposite.”

 

241. “Weird.”

 

242. “Look. These small snakes aren’t coiled around the double-scaled python. They’re only pus.h.i.+ng it up so it doesn’t slip downwards. The ones really mating are the python and this giant serpent.”

 

243. “You saw someone rummaging through your backpack?”

 

244. “It was Wenjing.”

 

245. “Come with me!”

 

246. “To catch Wenjing.”

 

247. “She was looking for food. Hers has run out so she will surely come again tonight. We need to set up a trap.”

 

248. “Why have you come here?” [To Wu Xie]

 

249. “This leads somewhere else. She went in!”

 

 

 

Book 6

 

250. “I already gave you a hint so I thought you knew.”

 

251. “They’re going to attract all the snakes here with all the gunshots.”

 

252. “Oh no.”

 

253. “Fall back! I’ll distract them”

 

254. “The dagger!”

 

255. “These blood zombies haven’t touched blood yet; its joints are still stiff, not like the one soaked in blood in King Shang’s tomb. If not, we wouldn’t even be running away now. Stop zoning out and look for some directions.”

 

256. “It’s not a drill hole. These are pipes used for the contraptions. The ones we saw up there are all [stored] here.”

 

257. “I’m going, too.”

 

258. “This is the last one. We’re almost there.”

 

259. “There’s a tiny crevice. It might be a balance contraption. Don’t go near her.”

 

260. “Pull her out!”

 

261. “There’s no time.”

 

 

 

Book 7

 

262. “I want to go for a walk.”

 

263. “I don’t know, go to those places you guys talked about—Changsha, Hangzhou, Shandong—and see if I can recall anything.” [He lost his memory ; A ; Wu Xie was heartbroken when Xiaoge couldn’t remember who he was.]

 

264. “Have you been there?”

 

265. “What should I do if I wanted to go?”

 

266. “This isn’t right.”

 

267. “No. This room just doesn’t feel right to me.”

 

268. “Do not open that!”

 

269. “Don’t open it. I…have a bad feeling about it.”

 

270. “I don’t know. It’s just a very bad feeling. Something will go wrong if we open this box.”

 

271. “I can’t describe it.”

 

272. “No, it’s not the contraption.”

 

273. “Only the surface is iron. The actual thing is wrapped inside.”

 

274. “It’s too light.”

 

275. “It’s all burnt.”

 

276. “It smells just like kerosene. It even burned through the floor.”

 

277. “Was it two years ago that your father hid it?”

 

278. “The blood is fresh. He left with it.”

 

279. “It hasn’t been long so he must be nearby.”

 

280. “Behind you!”

 

281. “That’s not all.”

 

282. “Step on my back and go up.”

 

283. “You say that like you know me.”

 

284. “Take a look. Do you recognise me?”

 

285. “It’s the sound of tides.”

 

286. “There was a fence where I dived down and lots of bags and stuff that fell into the lake were stuck all over it. I saw rifles, leather bags and tents. I only brought one up.”

 

287. “I don’t remember but I know this is only the beginning.”

 

288. “The figure in the mining tunnel was the thunder G.o.d of the Yao people. It’s a demon G.o.d: people usually don’t wors.h.i.+p it unless something catastrophic happened.”

 

289. “This being inside means it wasn’t sudden. Plus they brought this figure in to wors.h.i.+p after the event so this means the event was horrifying but it wasn’t enough to scare them away.”

 

290. “The thunder G.o.d is used to ward off evil.”

 

291. “First use fire then cold water. The stone will crack open.”

 

292. “Actually…we are the same as them.”

 

293. “That’s not what I meant.”

 

294. “Have you considered where we would be if this mining tunnel wasn’t dug?”

 

295. “Let’s think about it in a different way. Perhaps it was a complete coincidence that we’re alive now.”

 

296. “That’s possible too.”

 

297. “But I rather believe this instead.”

 

298. “They are moving towards us.”

 

299. “They used to be about three feet in the rock but now it’s less than one feet.”

 

300. “They’ve advanced more than two feet in five days’ time. We still have a day and a half.”

 

301. “Give me a hand.”

 

302. “It’s not over yet.”

 

303. “We can stop now. There’s no more time.” [Those things broke through the wall! QAQ]

 

304. “Lie down and do not move!”

 

305. “Don’t talk. Listen!”

 

306. “Don’t talk! And don’t move!”

 

307. “Go back to the wall!”

 

308. “This is a pathway formed by those things when they move. I took a look just now. It might lead outside.”

 

309. “Take the equipment and get out of here.”

 

310. “He[Fats] and I aren’t going to make it.”

 

311. Pokerface smiled at me. “Thank G.o.d you didn’t die.” [The literal meaning is actually, “Thank G.o.d I didn’t cause you to die.” And he smiled!!! This is proof of his love!!! D:]

 

  Fujos.h.i.+s’ depiction of the scene above where Kylin thought he wasn’t going to make it out alive. (pic: Xiaoge, wake up. Let’s go home...)

 

Book 8

 

312. “Look.”

 

313. “Don’t let them see me.”

 

314. “Qiu Dekao.”

 

315. “I saw him once at the hospital.”

 

316. “Beijing.”

 

317. “Last last month.”

 

318. “We can’t let them take the lead. We have to obstruct them.”

 

319. “We’ll steal their air tanks.”

 

320. “We can’t wait for night time. Once they settle down they’ll go underwater. Look.”

 

321. “Maybe they don’t have any more time.”

 

322. “I don’t believe you.” [This was said to the ‘her’ in #323.]

 

323. Pokerface didn’t answer her but instead turned to me and said, “Take me home.” [~(≧▽≦)/~]

 

324. “A feeling.”

 

325. “It’s poisonous.”

 

326. “You wrapped it in clothes so it was probably not touching anything. This thing dissolved after contacting water.”

 

327. “The objective for their grave robbing expedition wasn’t for money but for another living person.”

 

328. “History repeats itself.”

 

329. “She’s gone.”

 

330. “It wasn’t her.”

 

331. “It’s impossible to land on the ground from the roof in that short period of time and not even pant.”

 

332. “No rise in body temperature either.”

 

333. “I’ll go.”

 

334. “None of your business.” [For some reason Kylin didn’t follow Wu Xie’s lead and told the woman he would go! Wu Xie said he felt angry and frustrated but at the same time he knew Kylin was his own man and he had no say in his life (and that’s why he felt angry!) We know what you're feeling Wu Xie! ;)]

 

335. “Any of you have money?”

 

336. “I want to buy something.”

 

  Kylin, Wu Xie and Fats.

 

Book 9

 

337. “I’ll do it.”

 

338. Pokerface said, “First row, thirteen; second row, six; and third row, seven. Lightly tap each one in order. Remember the order.”

 

339. “Run!”

 

340. Xiaoge slowly lowered his hand and said softly, “Continue, don’t stop.”

 

341. “There’s no more time. The end is near.”

 

342. “I must complete the last step,” Pokerface said. “I don’t have much more time.” He packed his things into his backpack.

 

343. “Qiu Dekao already got what he wanted.” Pokerface tightened his backpack straps. “He can finally leave in peace.”

 

344. “Two rings. Sometimes people don’t look for immortality but rather death,” Pokerface said.

 

345. “I must walk this path alone from now on. You cannot accompany me any further. It is too dangerous and this has nothing to do with you anyways.” Pokerface put on his backpack and walked towards [the exit].

 

346. He gave me a cool look and said after a long silence, “I came to say goodbye to you. My time has almost come.” [He showed up at Wu Xie’s doorstep and ate a homemade meal with him. *cries*]

 

347. “Hmm.” He nodded.

 

348. He turned to look at me. “It’s over.”

 

349. “I must return to the place I must be,” he said.

 

350. “I came to say goodbye to you,” he said, “Everything is over now. I thought about my connection to this world and the only thing I could find was you.”

 

351. “I’m going to Changbai Mountain.”

 

352. “It’s the only place I can go.”

 

353. “Goodbye.” [And he left Wu Xie’s home for Changbai. *cries*]

 

354. “I came to say goodbye to you,” he said, “Everything is over now and I thought about my connection to this world. The only thing I could find was you.” [Wu Xie’s inner thought. He spent too long thinking about this and by the time he realised, Kylin had disappeared around the street corner.]

 

355. “Not here. I’m going there.”

 

356. “You cannot follow me.” “If I asked you not to, will you not?”

 

357. “How long do you plan on following me?”

 

358. “If you keep following me, I’ll knock you out tomorrow.”

 

359. “You will be fine.”

 

360. “Then you can run away now or keep a distance from me from now on.”

 

361. “As long as you stay within one hundred metres, I can knock you out with a stone. I will carry you to a safe location and when you wake up, you will no longer find me.”

 

362. “Does meaning even have a meaning?” Pokerface showed some concern for this word, ‘meaning.’ He said as he stared at the roaring campfire, “The word meaning itself has no meaning.”

 

363. “Goodbye.” [He tried to lose Wu Xie again. *cries*]

 

364. “I heard your cry for help.” [He came back to save him *cries*]

 

365. “Come with me,” he said. “This is a dead valley. There’s going to be more snow from the avalanche. Let’s head to the middle of the valley first.”

 

366. “It’s fine. Already had this injury before, it just hasn’t healed yet.”

 

367. “It was broken before I ran into you. It healed a little but I swung it too hard when I jumped just now.” [He was lying T_T he broke his arm saving Wu Xie.]

 

368. “It’s nothing. Just go.”

 

369. “Then I will do what I said I would do last night.”

 

370. “The first snowstorm will come within three days. If we don’t reach the hot spring we will die here. But if you go back the way you came, you will be back in your world very soon.”

 

371. “I’m trying to see what will be of use to you. I’ll leave them all for you. Might be of help for your trip back.”

 

372. “It doesn’t matter even if I’m a newborn infant. I’m very close to my destination now,” he said. “You don’t need to go any further. It’s too dangerous in there.”

 

373. “I think I should tell you a few things since you’re here,” he said. “Take this demon seal. I only need one.”

 

374. “Granny Huo gave it to me,” he said. “Behind your backs.”

 

375. He said, “To open the Gates.”

 

376. “Take this and go to the Green Bronze Gates and they will open. If you still remember ten years from now, you can take this and open the Gates. Perhaps you will be able to see me inside.”

 

377. “I can’t tell you what kind of place it is,” he said. “I can only tell you about a promise. Many years ago, I went and found your so-called Ancient Nine with a secret of my own. In the Zhang clan teachings, surviving has always been the main objective. Throughout the history of the clan, we always aim to survive any disaster or chaos and in turn, preserve the group burial site of the Zhang clan tower. From what I know, only the clan chief can know about this big secret. This secret was given to the Zhangs since the beginning and has been pa.s.sed down through the millenniums of Chinese history. No one knows what it is now. We just know that there is such a thing and there is a critical point in time. This point has come now. When all hopes for the Zhang clan to survive disappeared, I found the Ancient Nine in hopes to help the clan carry this duty out with their power so that the secret does not get exposed. But not a single person from the nine families carried out their promise. I must protect the core of this secret which lies beyond the Gates. Protecting this secret takes time. I will enter the Gates and wait for ten years for the next guardian.”

 

378. “Because in the past hundred years, everyone who has guarded this secret has been Zhangs. The Zhang clan’s power got weakened by this. The original agreement was that the Ancient Nine would take turns guarding the secret.”

 

379. “I am the last Kylin Zhang of the Zhang family. I must guard this from now on. However, since you’ve come, I’ll tell you this. If you still remember me ten years from now, you can open the Gates and take my place.”

 

380.  “You.” (And then, he knocked Wu Xie out T_T and left. Sigh. Wu Xie fell in love with a person who doesn’t come home. This is the last utterance made by Xiaoge. Only those who have read the books know just how agonizing this is.)
[This was in response to Wu Xie’s question: “If things weren’t like this and the nine families kept their promise, who would be guarding it now?” *cries*]