They went quiet. In the deeper part of the cave echoed the roars of a beast. “It’s the one that can bite off a human’s head.”

Wen Kexing had no interest in those beasts, his eyes were fixed on Zhou Zishu alone. The man didn’t react to his earlier words at all, only listening to his surroundings intently; his eyes and expressions never wavered.

Another roar can be heard, significantly louder now, as if the beast had moved closer. Zhou Zishu saw the underwater monsters all cowering in supposed fear. He tugged at Wen Kexing, and they took a turn into another trail. Zhou Zishu took out a small bottle, sprinkling something along the way.

Then they hid in a corner and held their breath.

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Footnotes.

1 仵作 (wǔzuò) is an old term to call coroners.

2 谛听 (dìtīng) is a mythical beast in Buddism under the control of Kṣitigarbha. It is said to be able to see through everything and can detect people’s truest desires in their heart.

3 寸 (cùn) is a traditional unit of length, also called Chinese inch. 1 cun is about 1.312 in.

Chapter 12. Illusions

Wen Kexing had no idea what the dust that Zhou Zishu had sprinkled was but he didn’t ask, as if he already knew what the other was capable of. He stood beside Zhou Zishu silently. Seconds later, the heavy breathing of the slowly approaching beast could be heard. The creature seemed to have noticed something, maintaining a slow tread. It went by a spot that was about ten feet away from them.

The creature was dog-like but as big as a pony, black all over. It panted through the nose, and in the air was a faint fishy smell. It slowed down even more, sniffing the air like it was suspicious of something.

Zhou Zishu crossed his arms in front of his chest, leaning on the wall, eyes narrowed, watching the scene intently.

There was a fleeting hint of a smile on Wen Kexing’s face; it was chilling and only there for a split second.

The beast was not far away but it had yet to notice the two’s presence. It stood still for a while then moved forward, being watched by two pair of human eyes. It followed the smell of blood to the corpses of the underwater monsters. After sniffing, it bellowed, head lowered and mouth chewing happily—it truly was able to decapitate the humanoid monsters.

Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu glanced at each other. Zhou Zishu was quietly terrified; while he wasn’t a coroner, he had been through a lot in life and his knowledge was vast, it was impossible that he couldn’t recognize a human head. Is that creature really human? He mused.

If it was, how did it come to this?

Wen Kexing poked at him, pointing at a small road. Zhou Zishu nodded, leaving carefully.