Chapter 86: No More Than Two Minutes

At this moment, the swarm of poisonous insects began to spread, isolating us from one another. It seemed they were wary of the monkey before us. After pulling me down, the monkey made no further move, and I couldn’t guess its intentions. Hanging beneath the suspension bridge, I had no strength left to resist.

One hand clung to the railing, while the other was being tightly gripped by Black Sunglasses. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t climb back up. The bridge was not the kind of structure that would stay steady under force; every effort caused it to sway, leaving me powerless. So I called out to Black Sunglasses, “Brother, hold tight, or this time I really might return to the earth.”

He too held the railing with one hand, the other clamped firmly around my wrist. He gritted his teeth and said, “You’re damn heavy. I don’t think I can hold on much longer.”

The monkey hung there like a statue, unmoving but staring at me with its stone-faced mask. Something about that visage filled me with inexplicable dread. At that moment, Black Sunglasses spoke, “Can you hold on with one hand for three minutes?”

“At most two!” I replied, unsure what he was planning, but I answered honestly. If I had to swing here with just one hand, two minutes was my limit.

“Alright!” he said.

Then, to my shock, he released his grip. I used every ounce of strength to hold onto the railing with one hand. Below me yawned a bottomless abyss, pitch black, nothing visible. Nearby, that terrifying creature watched me, and the sensation was thoroughly unpleasant.

Black Sunglasses moved quickly, rummaging through his backpack for a rope. He looped it around and fastened me to the bridge, his movements swift and precise. Once he secured me, I felt a bit more at ease.

In the next instant, I saw the monkey-like creature slowly approaching. I freed my hand and drew my pistol; I couldn’t engage it in close combat, so the gun was my only hope. Black Sunglasses above couldn’t see what was happening below the bridge.

I aimed the pistol at the creature. It hesitated, but I sensed it making a sound. Suddenly, it lunged at me with astonishing speed. I raised the gun and pulled the trigger, but the shot missed as the bridge swayed. In the next moment, its claw lashed out, faster than I could see. In the darkness and caught off guard, it struck my pistol from my hand and left a wound on my wrist. Blood gushed instantly. I grunted, quickly clamped my left hand over the wound, and shifted my body to keep some distance from it.

There was truly no good way out. The creature continued advancing. Black Sunglasses kept asking what was happening, but I had no time to answer. The rope kept me secure, but also limited my movements; I couldn’t make any large motions. Was this beast intending to kill me? In my current state, I barely had strength to resist.

As it drew close once again, I shut my eyes, feeling utterly desolate. Countless thoughts flashed through my mind. But just then, a sharp gunshot rang out, heavy and powerful, as though it could pierce anything. I cracked open my eyes and saw the stone mask on the monkey’s face shattered, revealing a bloodied visage beneath. That face was ghastly pale and deeply unsettling—not what I imagined a monkey’s face to be, nor a human’s, but a blank, featureless mask. Instantly, I recalled the faceless corpses I had seen before. Could these things belong to the same lineage?

After taking a bullet to the face, the faceless monkey retreated at once, darting up onto the bridge with incredible speed. Then it vanished, moving so swiftly it was almost uncanny.

“That was a sniper rifle,” Black Sunglasses said. “Looks like those guys behind us saw what’s happening here. But the rifle couldn’t kill that thing. Its mask must be something extraordinary!”

I listened to him, gave a bitter laugh, and said, “Forget it, just get me back up.”

With the rope securing me, it was much easier to exert force. In no time, I was back on the bridge. It seemed I’d chosen correctly earlier; had we tried anything atop the bridge, the sniper could have ended us both—there was nowhere to hide.

This time, neither of us lingered. The swarm of poisonous insects surged toward us again, so we dashed toward the opposite end, barely caring about the bridge’s sway, sprinting almost with our eyes closed.

Strangely, this time everything went smoothly. Nothing bizarre appeared ahead, and I felt my tension dissipate, everything becoming strangely natural.

Once I stepped off the bridge, relief flooded me. After so long on the swaying bridge, the sudden stability left me feeling oddly unaccustomed. Looking back, all was darkness; I couldn’t see Old Ghost and the others, nor could I tell if the sniper could spot us. Honestly, I dared not gamble, and there seemed to be no way out—if we wanted to leave, it looked like we’d have to retrace our steps.

Originally, my plan was to search this place quickly, grab whatever was crucial, and then find a way out. Even if we followed Old Ghost’s instructions, once they arrived and finished their business, they wouldn’t leave us alive. Better to escape right away.

I swept my flashlight around, seeing that the space was not very spacious. Before us stood a tall platform with dozens of steps, all built from black stone in an ancient style. Aside from this platform, the area was small, like a patch of ground carved from the mountainside, with no visible path leading out. Curiously, the poisonous insects refused to enter here, crawling only over the bridge.

As I examined the surroundings, Black Sunglasses was already heading up the steps. I hurried to follow.