Chapter 32: A New Discovery

“What’s wrong?” The Wise Star looked down at his shadow.

“Your shadow… Hey, your shadow, n-no, it’s nothing.” When Ning Jing looked again, she saw that the Wise Star’s shadow had returned to normal; his head had not fallen to the ground.

“Nothing? What did you see?” The Wise Star did not give up asking.

“I saw your head fall to the ground,” Ning Jing said, realizing the ambiguity, she added, “the shadow’s head.”

The Wise Star stared solemnly at his shadow.

“Forget it, let’s hurry up,” he sighed.

“The problem is, where is the Moon Goddess’s altar? Could it be where I just came from?” Ning Jing no longer pursued the matter.

The Wise Star turned to look at the overcast sky outside the palace, his gaze deepening. Then he spoke:

“We’ve been moving forward all along, but we’ve overlooked one thing: the whereabouts… including the direction we came from.”

“In fact, since arriving on the island, most mysteries can be unraveled by looking back for clues.”

“The severed heads in the forest, the headless strongman on the spiral staircase, all relate to clues we’ve encountered before. Perhaps the Moon Goddess’s altar is similar. After all, we haven’t seen any other group of five outside the forest, so the altar might not be inside the palace but rather along the path we took to get here.”

“Let’s go back!”

With that, he turned and headed out of the palace.

Ning Jing did not fully understand but chose to follow.

They returned to the corridor lined with stakes topped by heads.

“By the way, how did you survive?” Ning Jing changed the subject.

“Remember the head we saw before entering the palace? The calm one,” the Wise Star remarked.

“Yeah, I remember. Oh, no wonder—she wanted a body; the headless strongman was just the body,” Ning Jing’s eyes lit up as she lightly tapped her left palm with her right fist. But her expression dimmed after she spoke, “It’s easy to realize afterward, but the spiral staircase offers almost no space to evade. To go back, you’d have to take a risk or jump onto another spiral staircase.”

“No, there might be a perfect solution. If you move to the other staircase, then change positions and jump back behind the headless strongman, maybe he’d change his target. Then you could just run here,” the Wise Star shook his head.

“At the time… I was too nervous to think of that,” Ning Jing looked dejected.

“I’m talking about that head,” the Wise Star pointed to a female head nearby. The female head also noticed them.

Ning Jing turned her head and saw the female head smiling at her.

“Today is the last day. Will you survive?” the female head spoke.

“What? The last day?” Ning Jing was stunned.

“Thank you for telling us,” the Wise Star bowed slightly.

“You don’t have to thank me,” the female head suddenly said, then closed her eyes as if everything around her no longer mattered.

The Wise Star pushed up his glasses with his right middle finger. “Why do you say that?”

The female head did not answer.

The Wise Star wasted no more time and continued forward.

Soon, a long staircase appeared before them, and they began descending.

Along the way, the Wise Star was silent and solemn, weighed down by his thoughts.

“Are you all right?” Ning Jing asked with concern.

The Wise Star remained focused, seemingly not hearing her, maintaining his pace.

“Are you okay?” Ning Jing raised her voice.

“Huh?” The Wise Star snapped out of his thoughts and looked at her. “Is something wrong?”

“No, just asking,” Ning Jing waved her hand.

Soon, they returned to a clearing in the forest, where changes had taken place. Five tents were scattered around, and at the center of the clearing was a circular, pitch-black hole, just wide enough for one person to pass through.

Upon arriving, the blood moon had vanished.

The Wise Star crouched by the hole’s edge, observing the soil. He scooped up a handful with his right hand, letting the fine earth slip through his fingers.

“This hole isn’t newly dug. There must be something inside.”

“I’m going in to check.”

He picked up a flashlight and shone it deep into the hole.

Inside, the tunnel was vertical at first, then after two meters, sloped downward at a gentle angle.

“You’re going in?” Ning Jing’s mouth opened slightly, surprised. “How do we know what’s inside? Maybe there’s a ghost or something, and the space is so narrow you wouldn’t be able to escape.”

“Do we have any other choice?” the Wise Star replied.

“Let me keep watch for you,” Ning Jing glanced back.

“Whatever,” the Wise Star shook his head slightly, jumped into the hole, and proceeded down the slope.

A few seconds later, Ning Jing’s voice came from behind. “How are you?”

“Why did you follow me?” the Wise Star stopped.

“I thought it’d be better to stay with you in case you run into trouble and I can help,” Ning Jing quickened her pace.

“You’d be safe above,” the Wise Star said, turning to her.

“No, it’s safer together,” Ning Jing shook her head. “Being alone is too dangerous.”

They continued descending.

As they went deeper, the sound of their pounding hearts grew clearer.

“I have a question about wishes. If Zhang Sibo is already dead, then what did the other four wish for?” the Wise Star suddenly asked.

“You… you actually said it out loud? Aren’t you afraid?” Ning Jing shivered.

“I was a bit worried before, but considering the head with the backpack in the forest, there’s no need to be. The group of five is the group of five, the actors are the actors. Although they share the same bodies, they are not the same people,” the Wise Star’s voice echoed inside the tunnel.

“I don’t know about the others, but Duan Ling wished for the five to always stay together. After all, even if Zhang Sibo revived, they might separate again after graduation,” Ning Jing replied, swallowing nervously.

“Stay together forever?” The Wise Star chuckled softly. “Do you think her wish has come true?”

“Uh…” Ning Jing frowned. “I suppose… you could say yes? After all, they’re always on the Whereabouts Island, caught in an endless cycle.”

The Wise Star suddenly stopped, turning to Ning Jing.

“I have a theory. The wish and the Moon Shadow curse exist almost simultaneously. Rather than a wish, ‘a trade’ might be a more fitting description.”

“If it’s a trade, then rescinding it should be possible. Although the souls of the five might still linger on Whereabouts Island, we can leave. For us, as long as the film ends, everything can return to normal.”

“Even if Zhang Sibo is dead, it shouldn’t affect me.”

With that, he continued forward.

Ning Jing felt an ominous premonition welling up inside. She shone her flashlight on the Wise Star’s back, inexplicably feeling a pang of sorrow.