"No," Master Liu reported, "It's old, see how it's flaking where it was spattered onto the wall?" He pointed at the downward stroke of whatever left the blood smear. "It looks vague. I might have mistaken it for dirt if it wasn't for Xiao Yong's extra light."
"It's probably from one of these fellows." Zhao Tong said, gesturing to the bodies around us.
"You're probably right." Master Liu said as he inspected the smear.
Zhou Tong and Master Ge returned to the opposite side of the room.
Zhou Tong called to us from where they searched, "Master Liu, how far do you think a jumping zombie can…well jump?"
"Their steps are similar to yours or mine, but they jump so quickly that it's difficult to deal with them." Master Liu replied.
"How about a flying zombie?" Zhou Tong put a sarcastic emphasis on 'flying'.
Master Liu scowled through the darkness at him. "One could leap a house, or a tree. If I remember correctly, the average is ten meters or so. They're quite difficult to handle."
Master Liu stopped suddenly, and then spread his light to the wall where it merged with the ceiling.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Leather shoes." Master Liu said quietly.
Zhou Tong and Master Ge's light merged on Master Liu's. All four of us focused on the northwest corner of the ceiling. I squinted past the dozens of bodies.
Like a wave of cold, I felt like every hollow eye socket in the room staring at me, into me. My body stiffened against my will and my tongue felt like sandpaper in my mouth. Master Liu was still, his light illuminating the corner ahead of us.
Something moved, a skeletal hand, or a shadow. Ahead of us the light danced and gave birth to a slew of new shadows on the wall.
"Careful." Master Liu shouted. Holding the peach wood sword high, Master Liu rushed at the movement. Master Ge followed, but Zhou Tong ran towards me. He dodged past bony fingers that seemed to stretch up like hungry vines and stood protectively before me. "They'll eat you first." I thought, and gasped at the sureness in that idea.
Master Liu charged the portion of the wall where the shadows had congregated and swung his peach wood sword. The blade swung through the darkness towards the stone wall. My eyes followed the arc of the blade as it passed through the shadows, through nothingness, and swept low past Master Liu's left leg. If he hadn't pulled the swing just at the right time, it would have bitten into his own thigh. Nothing happened. No sounds tried to fill the vacuum of noise. For far too long we all simply stood and stared at Master Liu's turned back.
Finally, breaking the deafening silence and reminding my lungs to work, Master Liu said "Here. It's a hidden channel."
Zhou Tong knelt in front of me and tapped his shoulder. Not really thinking about it, I put my leg over his shoulder and he hefted me into a half piggyback. We crossed the room as one two legged, four-armed monstrosity and joined the two old masters. Before them was a tunnel just tall enough for a nine-year-old boy to walk into without fear of concussion. "Master Liu would have to fold himself in half to walk in there." I thought.
Zhou Tong asked, "Did that thing go down there?"
Master Liu nodded.
Zhou Tong continued, "Was it a jumping zombie?" There was no sarcasm in his voice now.
Master Ge forced a grin that could chew steel and said, "Zhou Tong, don't sell your eyes below their worth. You saw how fast it was. I've no doubt what we're dealing with can fly."
"A flying zombie..." Zhou Tong repeated. His voice hitched, making the word 'zombie' into a whiny cry.
Testing the waters of my newfound knowledge, I asked Master Liu, "Godfather, are flying zombies stronger than paper men?" A smile unconsciously crept onto my face. My mind assembled a ludicrous boxing ring of the undead and supernatural. I watched Uncle Sun boxing Xiao Chun's headless mother while the paper man stretched his crumpled torso in preparation for the match.
Master Liu pinched his nose between his thumb and index finger, inhaled sharply, and closed his eyes. He looked like a very disappointed baby sitter. "Paper men aren't powerful, they're... imbued. That's not important! What we're dealing with is an abomination of nature. These zombies won't only eat your flesh, but they'll rend your very soul and use it to empower their undead bodies. One of these zombies could destroy an entire village. We have to kill it."
"What about 魃?" I asked, using the traditional Chinese pronunciation that sounded like 'bah'. "Is one of those stronger than a flying zombie?"
Master Liu chuckled despite himself, "That… is a powerful monster capable of massacring dragons. Where did you hear such a word?"
Master Ge cut in, "Can you deal with 魃?"
Master Liu straightened defensively, "With enough preparation it would die with me."
Master Ge snorted and resumed his steel grin.
Master Liu scowled at him, but went on, "Fret not my unfaithful friends. The demon we're dealing with is afraid of sunlight. So his moves should be easy to predict. If we come across him again though, be wary. I have reason to believe his touch is poisonous.
We lingered at the entrance of the stout tunnel. As Master Liu stooped to enter the passage I felt a chill float across my neck and turned back to the large room. The bodies hanging from the rafter were swaying slowly from side to side in a chorus of decaying rope. "The zombie could be up there…" I thought. A hand grabbed my arm and I gritted my teeth against a shout.
"Come on!" Zhou Tong said. He tugged my arm after him and Master Ge into the short tunnel entrance.
The tunnel was wide enough for all four of us to crouch walk side by side. As we went further the walls widened even more. The ceiling sloped steadily upward and allowed the adults to stretch out their curved backs as they walked. Soon, even Master Liu and Zhou Tong were walking normally, despite their generous height.
Master Liu had his flashlight trained on a pair of footprints that went steadily into the darkness ahead of us.
After several steps, Master Liu pasted a thunder paper amulet on the wall to his left. He spoke as if tutoring a child, " If we go the wrong way and the zombie comes back here, we'll feel the amulet respond. It wont be able to escape us now."
Zhou Tong moved ahead of Master Liu and whispered, "Let me lead. I want to keep an eye out for more of those hidden triggers. It's fascinating what they thought of when building this place."
Master Liu nodded, "Be my guest."
Zhou Tong flashed a smile beneath his mustache and said, "Thanks for the invitation."
Zhou Tong walked forward slowly, brandishing his knife in one hand and flashlight in the other. The light gleamed off of the green slab stones inlaid in the floor and walls. The decorated, animalistic candleholders shone in the light every few meters. The animals' expressions became more and more grotesque as we went. The teeth seemed to be longer and fur receded from snarling muzzles.
After passing three of the same snarling face I asked Zhou Tong, "What is that beast?"
"Its name is Hou." He said, eyes still focusing on the dark ahead of us. "It's one of the four gods, Nv Wa, Fu Xi, and Hao Tian. Hou is the ancestor of the dead. Legends hold him as the king of zombies. I'll tell you all about it when we get out of this place."
Master Liu added, "The so-called four gods were not original deities. They were of the Mythic Age. By the Age of Civilizations and the rise of humanity, the Mythic Age was almost over."
Recounting how uninteresting history lessons had been in school, I gaped at the men beside me in awe. Where were the books about zombies and mythic gods? "What else?" I asked excitedly.
"Later." Master Liu said curtly. His brow was cinched together and he was glowering into the darkness. "Now is not the time for tales."
I felt more than heard the tension in his voice and fell silent.
Focusing on keeping my mouth shut, I almost didn't notice Master Ge slow his pace. He was bent over, leaning so his eyes were closer to the nearest candleholder on my right. He squinted, shook his head, and then shuffled to it.
We'd walked past him in our conversation, but I stopped and tugged on Master Liu's wetsuit. "Why did Master Ge stop?" I whispered.
Master Liu looked around in surprise. "What's wrong?" He called down the hall. "Did you find something?"
Master Ge's voice came to us in a distracted mutter. "I'm not sure…" He was leaning so close to the candleholder that it might bite him. "I think… I think Hou's face is different than the books I have at home."
Zhou Tong gave a snort, "Of course they are. No one's actually seen Hou! These were probably done by a different artist is all!"
Master Ge shook his head and said, "No, look closer. There's something in its mouth. What craftsman would carve a god eating something?"
Master Liu and Zhou Tong walked over and mirrored Master Ge's posture, stooping to see the Hou-faced candlestick. "It's definitely eating something." Master Ge said.
"Are those whiskers?" Zhou Tong asked in fascination.
"What is it? Is it pork?" I asked curiously.
Master Liu turned on me with a look of incredulity, "Boy, you know better than that! Hou was an honorable god. He wouldn't eat lowly earth food!" His look softened at my hurt expression. "Of course, you don't know. Legend has it that Hou fed on dragons. Specifically, that he ate dragon brains." He gestured to the next candlestick a few meters down. "I think whatever craftsman that made these tried to incorporate the legends into his work."
Zhou Tong squinted at the carved mouth, "Are you sure that's a dragon? It could be grass for all I can tell."
Master Liu nodded and looked around, "Whoever was buried here must have worshiped Hou a great deal. It's no wonder we've stumbled upon a zombie."
We continued down the passage. After a long curving turn to the left we took a short break to drink water and eat something.
Chewing on his o-nigiri, Zhou Tong said something that was flittering through my own thoughts. "This passage seems endless. You'd think there would be something to show we're going in the right direction. Are there still footprints ahead?"
I nodded instinctually, but Master Liu's voice called out from behind me. "No, they stopped a few minutes back."
Zhou Tong chewed for a moment. "I have an idea."
"What?" Master Ge asked.
"The end of the passage is probably the main room, right?" He asked, "Well, whatever led us here has been activating switches and manipulating the doors, right?"
"I don't…" I started, but he cut me off.
"It would only make sense that whomever designed this labyrinth would have done so to facilitate the living. The dead can't use switches or open doors! You said so yourself!" Zhou Tong looked triumphantly at Master Liu.
Master Liu nodded, his eyes bright. "The two bronze doors…" he said, "The doors were built for the living, not the dead!"
"This wasn't designed as a tomb! It was a bunker of some sort! The Taoists! They must have been using it to perform rituals or something! Amazing!" Zhou Tong was grinning from ear to ear.
I considered how far we'd swum and walked so far. "Master Liu, are we still under the village?" I asked uncertainly.
He looked at the ceiling for a moment as if he could see through the earth above him and into the sunny sky. "Yes, I think so. The turns have been sharp and the slopes go downward. I think we're still below the school."
We continued forward down the passage. After a few minutes, the walls on either side began to change. In between each of the candlesticks were what appeared to be ancient doorways. The frames of each were made of a darker stone than the rest of the tunnel. Most were open mouths of darkness, but every few had the remnants of a broken or rotten wooden door.
"Did people really live here?" I asked in amazement. "Was this grave a home?"