Zheng Shuxuan drew two maps with pen and paper. She kept one for herself and gave the other to Yang Hanxue.
As for Fatty and me, we were holding the original.
After splitting up, we agreed to fire a shot as a signal if we encountered any special circumstances.
With the previous incident involving the wild man zombie, everyone was equipped with firearms.
I asked Fatty where we should go next.
Fatty pointed to "Barracks" on the map and asked, "Master Xiang, what does this barracks mean?"
"It should be a soldier's dormitory," I replied.
"Then let's go take a look here?"
"What's there to see?" I asked.
Fatty said, "You wouldn't know this. This underground fortress is so large. Often, the more inconspicuous the place, the more likely it is to hide treasure. Although the map calls this place barracks, it might be a treasure trove."
There was some logic to that, but I felt that with the Little Wako's personality, it was unlikely they would play such a trick.
After all, the Little Wako always acted by the rules, as evident from the meticulous construction of this underground fortress.
This underground fortress was so vast that I couldn't decide where to go for a while. So, I decided to go along with Fatty and check out the barracks.
We walked for about ten minutes according to the map before arriving at the so-called "Barracks."
It was a corridor of unknown length, with small, separated rooms lining the right side, and a rocky ceiling.
Since there was no lighting here, Fatty and I used our flashlights to survey the surroundings.
We casually pushed open a door and found the space inside to be incredibly small, only about five to six square meters. A simple tatami mat lay on the floor.
There were some moldy bedding on the tatami, and the room smelled musty.
"The Little Wako's living quarters weren't that great either," Fatty remarked.
"For those times, it was quite good, and it was a private room," I said.
"That's true," Fatty said, prodding the bedding with his entrenching tool. He looked around and said, "Master Xiang, I think we came to the wrong place this time. This place really is just for sleeping."
I forced a smile and said, "You were the one who wanted to come here earlier."
"I was just curious, I wanted to see what the Little Wako's living quarters looked like back then," Fatty said, scratching his head.
"Alright, let's go check out some other places."
After leaving the room, I spread the map on the ground to study where we should go next.
"Fatty, how about we go check out the arsenal?" I asked.
As soon as I finished speaking, Fatty showed no reaction. Puzzled, I looked up at him.
To my surprise, he looked terrified, shining his flashlight at the corridor not far away, as if his soul had left his body.
"Fatty?" I called out.
He snapped back to attention, pointing into the distance and stammering, "Mas... Master Xiang... do you see it?"
"See what?" I asked, looking up.
The long corridor appeared empty.
"I saw a woman!" Fatty licked his lips. "That woman was wearing white..."
Seeing his ashen face, I couldn't help but feel a chill down my spine. "Are you sure you didn't missee?"
Fatty shook his head. "Impossible! I definitely didn't missee. It was a woman, and she even smiled at me..."
As he said this, he began to tremble uncontrollably.
This made me nervous too.
How could there be a woman in this accursed place?
The only women were Guan Zhenwan and Zheng Shuxuan, and Fatty would have recognized either of them.
So, there was only one possibility: the woman Fatty saw was a stranger.
Where would a stranger woman come from in this place?
Could it be a ghost?
The more I thought about it, the more unnerved I became.
Soon, I thought of a possibility and stared at Fatty. "You damned Fatty, are you looking for a beating?"
"Huh?" Fatty looked at me in confusion.
"Who are you trying to scare? What, are you testing my courage?"
Fatty realized what I meant and said, "Master Xiang, you think I'm joking with you?"
"Keep up your act. You're quite convincing."
I thought this damned Fatty was definitely trying to scare me. So, I put away the map, stood up, and said, "Since there's a woman over there, let's go find out what it is."
"Ah?" Fatty's face turned grim. "Master Xiang, let's just go back."
"What are you afraid of? It's just a woman, isn't it? Could she eat us?"
I could tell Fatty was genuinely scared. He said, "What if it's not a woman?"
"If it's not a woman, then what is it?"
"What if it's a female ghost?"
I replied, "That would be even better... Have you ever seen a female ghost?"
He shook his head. I continued, "I haven't either. Let's open our eyes to it today."
"Master Xiang..."
When I realized Fatty wasn't trying to scare me, I also felt like turning back.
But then I thought about how long we would be in this place. If we didn't figure out what Fatty saw, we would be on edge the entire time.
It was possible that the slightest rustle of wind could scare us half to death.
Besides, we had already seen the wild man zombie. What was there to fear from a female ghost?
If we really encountered a female ghost, I hadn't harmed her, so I'd have a good chat with her. I didn't believe she could do anything to us.
When I explained my thoughts to Fatty, he wasn't as scared anymore. "Master Xiang, you're right. Even if it is a female ghost, she wouldn't just do anything to us without reason. Even if she scares us to death, wouldn't we become ghosts ourselves? Then, two ghosts bullying one, what could she do..."
Fatty was rambling more and more, so I quickly told him to stop talking nonsense and go see for ourselves.
We walked along the corridor. After about ten minutes, the small rooms on the side started to look different.
Many of the small rooms no longer had doors, but were replaced with fabric curtains, and the spaces were even smaller than the previous rooms.
"There's no further path ahead," I said, shining my flashlight at the end of the corridor.
Fatty let out a sigh. "It looks like I misse."
Just as he finished speaking, a woman's laughter echoed clearly in our ears.
In that instant, my every hair stood on end, and Fatty even grabbed me!
That laugh was too clear!
Time seemed to stand still for a moment. After an unknown duration, I mustered up the courage and shouted, "Who the hell is messing around here?!"
As I cursed, an unfelt gust of wind suddenly blew, making us shiver!
Then, the curtain of a room in front of us fluttered in the wind, as if something was emerging from within...