The voice on the other end said, "Teacher Bagua, I'm telling you, this thing looks downright sinister!"
At those words,
Master Zhu jolted.
Something's wrong!
He hurriedly took out his phone. Seeing the other person online, he skipped voice messages this time and called immediately.
But the call went unanswered.
Master Zhu stopped caring about anything else and shouted into his phone, "You went in? No, listen to me first!
"Get out! That's no place for a person to go. Something's wrong. When the mine collapsed back then, that tunnel was buried.
"It should've stayed buried all these years. It shouldn't be exposed.
"So if you can see it, there's only one possibility: it ate everyone inside and burrowed its way out.
"Listen to me. Don't go any deeper. Too many people died there. Something unnatural has been there for ages! Song Chuming is luring you in.
"And by now, you shouldn't have any doubt that Song Chuming is a ghost. So don't go in.
"And don't worship it! Whatever happens, keep heading outside. Whatever you do, don't worship the Great King God's statue!
"Song Chuming's Eight Characters are behind it.
"There could even be other important things there.
"Do you understand? Come back! That statue might really eat people!"
After shouting himself hoarse,
Master Zhu's heart hammered. The unanswered call was bad enough, but what chilled him even more was that his messages went unanswered too.
Master Zhu sank onto the bed, all hope draining out of him.
Then something occurred to him, and he sprang back up.
He raced downstairs like the wind to Ms. Chi's hall, gave Master Liang, who was keeping watch, a few instructions, and asked to borrow his car.
Master Zhu's expression startled Master Liang. It startled everyone else too, though none of them