A person who has been soaked here for more than a hundred years can actually make eye signals and lip reminders to you.
At this moment, the shock brought by his move even exceeded that of the person sitting on the bed.
Not only Li Chaiyuan, but in fact, everyone was constantly looking back and forth at the gate and the big bed, so naturally they all saw the man's guidance.
It's just that Runsheng has always listened to Li Chaiyuan's words, while Tan Wenbin only takes the initiative when the atmosphere is active, but never talks too much in the decision-making process.
Only Xue Liangliang reached out and grabbed Li Zhuiyuan's arm, and gently applied a little force in the direction of the bed:
"Xiaoyuan, make a decision."
Xue Liangliang secretly gave his attitude, he wanted to walk to the bed.
This is also Li Zhuiyuan's choice.
Sometimes, those dazzling human nature is complex, deceitful, and logically ups and downs, all you need to discard are abandoned, and you only need to focus on one key point when reviewing the question:
You need to know that these four Qing Dynasty people should have encountered the same situation back then, and they should have made the most normal choice to rush into the door, and then they changed from corpse pickers to bed lifters.
In fact, there was no need for the one to take the initiative to remind them, when the four of them appeared in this image among the bed lifters, Li Chaiyuan already had a choice in his heart.
The reason why I waited a little longer was like taking a few more deep breaths before a bungee jumped down.
"Rush under the bed!"
Everyone immediately started running and sprinting, this scene was very similar to the huge shekou door when they first entered the underground palace and went up the stairs, and it was sent to others' mouths by themselves.
In an instant, seven of the eight bed lifters all lowered their eyes on the four people who rushed up.
The golden curtain slowly propped up, and the woman's long hair inside gradually parted to the sides.
Li Chaiyuan saw her face, which was a human face, but her whole face was full of snake scales, and what flowed out of her eyes was also the vertical pupils of a snake.
The four of them ran to the bed, and the other three bent down quickly to avoid meeting each other, except for the boy.
While running under the bed, Li Zhuiyuan noticed the waist of the "Qing Dynasty Reminder" out of the corner of his eye, where a jade pendant was hanging.
The boy subconsciously reached out and grabbed it.
There may be some identity information about this person on the jade pendant, although your reminder did not affect my choice, but I still accept your feelings.
If you can still find your descendants or descendants, give them back the favor.
At the home of truck driver Zhu Yang, Li Chaiyuan had already asked Xue Liangliang to remit money.
Li Sanjiang hadn't taught the boy much about the technique of retrieving corpses, because most of his set was still wrong.
But the boy learned a very important thing from Li Sanjiang, that is, the kindness of the corpse fisherman.
It's just that this pull not only failed to pull it down, but almost made me stumble.
Li Chaiyuan decisively let go and didn't want it.
He couldn't stop or follow the big bed, just to understand the next jade pendant.
Finally, the four of them crawled out from under the bed and, in one breath, ran a short distance, arriving at the edge of the pool.
The eight people carrying the bed and the statue on the bed merely "watched" them, not attacking them. It was unclear whether they were disinterested or had more important things to do.
"Ding..."
The jade pendant that hadn't been removed earlier fell from his waist and rolled down to Li Zhuiyuan's front.
Li Zhuiyuan reached out to pick it up, blew on it, and saw five words engraved on it: "Fengdu Yinzhiwang."
Fengdu is also Fengdu, now part of Fuling, Sichuan Province, not far from Wanzhou, where he was currently.
The surname Yin is relatively rare, and since he was a legitimate corpse retriever, finding his descendants shouldn't be difficult.
After putting the jade pendant away, he looked up and saw the eight people carrying the bed had arrived at the main gate.
"Giggle..."
Laughter continued to emanate from the door, and the woman's face behind it kept peeked out.
The edge of the bed slammed against the door, making a series of rumbling noises.
Tan Wenbin asked in surprise, "Isn't the method of leading to heaven so simple and crude?"
Xue Liangliang retorted, "Otherwise, do you really believe in ascension?"
Tan Wenbin shook his head, "No, no, I just think it should be at least a little more beautiful and romantic."
"Squeak..."
The door, which had been only half-closed, was slowly pushed open by the strong and powerful legs of the bed.
At the same time, a series of "crackling" sounds emanated from the pool behind the four people.
The four people immediately turned around and saw that the water level in the pool where the bed had been placed and where the eight dead heads had been hidden was rapidly decreasing.
Xue Liangliang: "There's a switch down here, probably connected to the door above. They need to be opened together."
As the door gradually opened, the water level in the pool continued to drop even faster. Soon, it had completely leaked out, leaving a hole at the bottom.
Tan Wenbin: "It's like the bathtub plug has been pulled out."
Li Zhuiyuan: "Perhaps this is the real way out?"
Tan Wenbin asked, puzzled, "But doesn't it face downwards?"
"Giggle..."
"Giggle..."
At this moment, the laughter behind the door suddenly intensified.
The four turned around and saw the faces of the women behind the door. From one, to two, to four, to eight... Soon, both sides of the door, from top to bottom, were filled with women's faces.
They were all laughing, and the sound of their laughter was eerie.
Tan Wenbin swallowed, "So many?"
Li Zhuiyuan's ears twitched as he said, "More than that."
As the door was completely flung open, the face that had been hanging from the door crawled out. Yes, it crawled, because behind this face was a body resembling a gecko, except that its arms and legs were much shorter than those of a typical gecko, and its body was covered in slime. Its four legs had almost atrophied, and it simply relied on its body to move rapidly.
It looked like a snake, but not quite. It was unclear whether it had evolved or degenerated.
And all the women's faces were uniform, almost identical in style.
Li Zhuiyuan suspected that this image was the true face of the woman on the bed. She had become a snake, and the snakes had become her.
They emerged.
At first, they followed the doorframe, then gushed out from above, densely packed, almost like a black torrent. Within the torrent, countless identical faces pressed against each other, forming a hideous grin.
"Fuck!"
Tan Wenbin couldn't help but curse.
The others felt the same way. If they had chosen to rush through the door, wouldn't they have fallen directly into this thing's lair?
The very thought of it made my scalp tingle.
Most of the geckos crawled along the upper part of the underground palace. As the bone fire "ignited," a large number of fireflies gathered above, devouring the fireflies. This was their feast.
Li Zhuiyuan suddenly understood something. There seemed to be a cycle of life within this underground palace.
Whenever the fireflies here multiplied to a certain number, the geckos inside the door would make a sound, as if calling for their mother to feed them.
Then the snake-faced woman sitting on the bed would exert herself to lift the bed, leave the pool, walk up the steps, and push open the gate to the paradise.
This was indeed paradise, but it wasn't for outsiders to enter, but for the creatures inside to come out and feast.
Our presence acted more like a catalyst. Perhaps it was a flashlight, a torch, or even just a slight artificial noise that might have awakened the fireflies prematurely. The geckos inside the door, sensing the movement, would then call out, bringing the meal forward.
In a sense, this also served as a theft prevention mechanism.
Because of the premature trigger, the number of fireflies hatched would surely be insufficient to feed the large number of geckos. Naturally, the remaining living creatures within the underground palace would become their target.
At this moment, the geckos in front had already descended from above, swooping down upon the pile of bones and the specimens, specifically devouring the fireflies within. The geckos behind were already struggling to find food, and many were already rapidly crawling towards the four of us.
There was no need to hesitate. Even if the door beneath the pool led to hell, we had to jump now. Going to hell was preferable to being eaten by these creatures, or even worse... parasitized.
"Down!"
The four of them jumped into the pool together, then into the cave. There were steps at the bottom, and this time, Runsheng was the last one to come.
The first gecko snake to follow, its tongue spitting, lunged from the tunnel wall.
"Bang!"
Runsheng swung his shovel at it, but it reacted quickly, ducking and dodging the blow. Then, its body quickly recoiled and then suddenly straightened, leaping into the air and rushing towards Runsheng.
It was so fast that Runsheng didn't have time to swing the shovel again. Just as the gecko snake was about to pounce on him, he grabbed it with his left hand.
"Hiss, hiss, hiss..."
It was in pain. The woman's face was filled with agony. A closer look revealed that it wasn't a human face at all, but a strange, grotesque appearance created by the compressed skin tags on her face.
It resembled the origami so popular among students these days, each side bearing a different pattern or inscription. Only after supporting its four corners with fingers did the large mouth in the center fully open.
"Snap!"
Runsheng slammed the gecko snake against the wall with such force that it shattered it, sending its foul juices splattering.
Next, a second and a third followed. Runsheng slapped and retreated, buying time for his teammates to cover the rear.
As more and more geckos rushed into the tunnel, Runsheng gradually began to lose strength. Two of them took advantage of the chaos and bit his left arm and right thigh. Another snake slithered up behind him, clinging to his back with its mouth open, sucking in like a suction cup.
"Runsheng, come here!"
Xue Liangliang's voice rang out.
Runsheng immediately stopped resisting and focused on running backwards.
Xue Liangliang and Tan Wenbin stood on either side of the corridor. As Runsheng ran over, they worked together to pull the two bronze plates out of their respective grooves, colliding them.
"Crack!" "Crack!"
Several geckos were crushed in this way.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A series of crashing sounds came from outside, as numerous geckos slammed into the door. Fortunately, the door panels were sturdy enough to successfully block the passage.
The gate had no latch and could not be locked. It could be opened from both sides, but only by applying force from the side. Clearly, the geckos outside did not have this ability.
Tan Wenbin watched the geckos on the ground, their bodies still wriggling and giggling even after being pinched, and he stepped on them one by one, crushing them completely.
Elsewhere, Runsheng tore off the two bites from his arms and legs, along with two chunks of his own flesh. He grabbed one in each hand and slapped his palms together.
"Snap!"
He smashed both together.
Li Zhuiyuan tried to come up and help him grab the one on his back, but Runsheng dodged to the side.
"Xiaoyuan, don't touch that. Get out of the way."
With that, Runsheng slammed his back against the wall of the corridor beside him, crushing it into a pulp.
"Ah..."
The pain hadn't been much when he'd been pulling out flesh, but now, the pain of crushing the one on his back felt like it went straight to the depths of his brain.
When Runsheng's back lifted off the wall, he found the now-mash-like gecko snake still hanging there by a mouthpart embedded in Runsheng's flesh.
This one wasn't eating flesh; it was preparing to parasitize!
Perhaps this was why those four Qing Dynasty corpse-retrievers ended up as bed-bearers. Runsheng reached behind him and grabbed it.
"Brother Runsheng, no..."
Before he could finish his warning, Runsheng ripped the thing from his back.
The mouthparts inside weren't left inside, having torn off a piece of flesh the size of a mahjong tile.
"Hmm..."
Runsheng shivered, seemingly feeling a little better.
This was probably due to a substance secreted by the gecko snake when it parasitizes, producing a numbing effect, like pinching a mosquito bite with your fingernail.
Xue Liangliang's eyes darted anxiously around. Everyone's clothes were soaking wet, and there was no place for a suitable disinfectant or hemostatic product.
Runsheng, however, calmly pulled the tin box of "cigars" from his pocket. Upon opening it, the thick, fragrant cigars within were surprisingly impervious to moisture. Aunt Liu had made the tin herself, making it incredibly waterproof.
He pulled out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, chewed it, and spat it out into his palm, then applied it to the wounds one by one.
Xue Liangliang quickly reached out to scoop up a splash of liquid and applied it to the largest wound on Runsheng's back.
"Did it work?"
Runsheng shook his head, "I don't know."
After observing it for a moment, Xue Liangliang exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, it really worked! It stopped the bleeding."
Runsheng sat down against the wall of the corridor, panting.
But he quickly stood up again, using his hands to support himself. "Xiaoyuan, I'm fine."
"Brother Runsheng, you should rest for a while."
"No, I'm fine. I'm just a little dizzy, a bit like I'm drunk, but not tired."
This is probably the residual effects of the paralysis.
Seeing this, Li Zhuiyuan stopped being pretentious. "Then let's keep going. We'll get some rest after we leave here."
The four of them continued forward. This time, Tan Wenbin and Xue Liangliang walked in the front row, leaving Runsheng at the back.
Xue Liangliang: "Xiaoyuan, that gate just now seemed like it was meant to target those things. Did we come down a little late?"
"Not really. When the large gate above is pushed open, the small gate below the pool will open as well. The corpse water will leak out, and then the large gate will be wide open, revealing the things inside.
The only time we can buy is to dive into the corpse water together as soon as we notice the pool leaking. Once the small gate opens wide enough for people to enter, we'll dive in one by one.
But this is our first time here, our first time seeing this, so we can't react so quickly.
Besides, this gate isn't meant for outsiders like us."
Xue Liangliang: "Huh?"
Li Zhuiyuan shone his flashlight upwards, hitting the ceiling of the corridor. A mural appeared:
"This is for her, personally."
Xue Liang Liang also looked at the mural overhead and nodded. "It seems she designed this as her own living quarters."
Tan Wenbin: "No, a tomb doesn't need this kind of decoration?"
Li Zhuiyuan: "This isn't a tomb. The owner never intended to rest here. In fact, she wasn't even dead when she 'lived' here."
Tan Wenbin: "Buried before death? Are there people in this world who would do that?"
"Yes, but they pursue different goals." Li Zhuiyuan paused. "That's the case in Baijia Town."
Xue Liangliang remained expressionless, looking at the mural overhead as he said, "The scene depicted on the mural should be a scene from the ancient Yong Kingdom, right?"
Li Zhuiyuan: "Yes, the woman on the bed could be the ruler of the ancient Yong Kingdom, perhaps a member of the secular hierarchy, or perhaps a religious figure."
The painting depicts a woman of noble status, worshipped by all, embarking on a journey to challenge her highest beliefs. She commanded the construction of this place, selecting the most ferocious beasts and the strongest warriors, and then ascending the highest celestial ladder. The ladder's summit was a layer of clouds, and above the clouds was a giant python.
The painting actually resembled a dragon, but without its signature horns and long tongue.
The python's head was the sun, its tail the moon, symbolizing that in her religious worldview, the python was the ruler of the alternation of the sun and the moon.
In the final painting, the woman led her loyal warriors and beasts up the ladder, into the clouds, and before the giant python. This was her vision of bliss.
"Wait!"
Li Zhuiyuan stopped and halted the group. Then, he began to retreat, his flashlight fixed behind the woman's position in each mural.
"Look, in the previous murals, whether the woman was receiving worship or directing the construction of the underground palace, this thinner, darker figure stood behind her. But in the last mural, the woman ascended to heaven, and he's gone."
This figure is painted in the same way as the surrounding supporting characters, only slightly darker and thinner. If it were just one painting, it might have been a slip of the artist's hand. But with the presence of this special "him" in every painting except the last, it's not a coincidence, but a necessity.
Xue Liangliang: "Indeed, it seems they deliberately highlighted him, proving that he held a high position at the time, or rather, someone highly valued by women.
Also, I don't know if this was true in ancient times, but nowadays, when it comes to projects, the principal position is often merely a figurehead, while the person truly responsible for the detailed operations, the actual project leader, is a deputy.
The woman's position is definitely prominent in the mural, probably due to the political correctness of the period. The figure behind the woman must have been the true driving force behind her ascension to power in the Yong Kingdom, the construction of the underground palace, and her ascension to heaven."
Li Zhuiyuan: "However, that driving force ultimately did not reach paradise to meet the giant python."
After a brief silence, Xue Liangliang and Li Zhuiyuan said simultaneously:
"She was deceived."
Clearly, the altar or ascension pond above is not the ultimate blissful outcome the woman desired.
Now, she is more like a parasitic tool, like a key, responsible for opening and closing doors, maintaining the cycle within the underground palace.
Tan Wenbin asked cautiously, "Well, brothers, I don't have any other intentions. I just want to know: shouldn't we hurry and get out now? What's the point in discussing this?"
Xue Liangliang replied, "If everything here belongs to that woman, then we're probably safe now. If not, then we've only truly entered."
Tan Wenbin's mouth twitched at this.
Li Zhuiyuan shone his flashlight forward: "Let's go! We need to be careful. It's not time to let our guard down yet."
Not long after leaving the area with the mural overhead, upward stairs appeared.
This was good news. For the four people who wanted to leave, any route leading up was worth trying.
As they walked, curved arches appeared on either side of the entrance. They looked like the design of a tomb's attic, but when they shone their flashlight inside, they were completely empty.
Tan Wenbin: "Was it robbed by water monkeys?"
Li Zhuiyuan shook his head: "No, water monkeys can't lick it so cleanly."
After scanning the area again, Li Zhuiyuan confirmed: "I think it's more likely that after they fooled the woman above, they left nothing behind."
Continuing forward, two more pairs of attic appeared, still empty, further confirming Li Zhuiyuan's suspicions.
Finally, a large archway appeared directly ahead.
According to underground architectural tradition, past the attic is the main acupuncture point.
On either side of the archway, two figures, a man and a woman in leather armor, knelt. Their figures resembled the two figures among the beasts in the underground palace above.
On the wall behind them, each had a small snake head, from which water continuously flowed, dripping onto them.
Runsheng: "It smells very strongly of a watery corpse."
How could the corpse not stink after being doused in water for so long?
Runsheng twisted his neck, took a deep breath, and picked up the shovel.
He was exhausted and not in good shape, but now, he had to move forward.
Tan Wenbin and Xue Liangliang each clutched a flashlight, ready to wait for the corpses to awaken before following Runsheng. This was the final step; if they wanted to get out, they had to fight tooth and nail.
The situation was set, but the two corpses hadn't yet awakened and fallen dead. Perhaps it was because the four of them weren't close enough to trigger them.
Li Zhuiyuan now raised his flashlight upwards, and two more murals appeared.
One painting depicts a ship at sea, with a person standing on it. Both the ship and the person are small and located in a corner. The focal point is diagonally opposite, on the seafloor, where a massive building stands. This structure is strange, resembling an underwater palace, but a more general overview reveals a head, horns, and long whiskers, resembling a giant beast, with the sun and moon hovering above.
This image, this scene, reminded Li Zhuiyuan of the image Zheng Haiyang's mother had described to him in the mental hospital.
Could it be that the man who deceived the noblewoman of the Yong Kingdom had previously sailed there?
The second painting shows a man standing on a mountain surrounded by mountains, with a woman kneeling at his feet.
The connection between the two suggests that the man traveled to that mysterious land in the East China Sea, then returned to the ancient Yong Kingdom in the southwest, and took the woman in as his disciple.
If he did indeed travel there, did he bring anything back?
Or...was it really him who returned?
At this moment, Li Zhuiyuan sensed a faint unease, a subtle tingling in his nerves.
Practicing the Yin-Walking technique frequently had another effect: a heightened sensitivity to certain things. Of course, this wasn't a good thing; if it continued to intensify, he'd sooner or later become neurotic.
Li Zhuiyuan grasped Tan Wenbin with both hands, resting his forehead against his back and closing his eyes.
This time, he didn't specify a time limit, because if the situation wasn't resolved, waking him up would be meaningless.
The Yin-Walking technique was a success.
Li Zhuiyuan looked up. Runsheng and the other two had disappeared. In front of him, the man and woman were still kneeling on either side of the archway. In the center, a third figure had appeared.
Dressed in a golden robe and a snake-shaped mask, he looked majestic and mysterious.
The two, one large and one small, stared at each other.
After a while, the boy said, "You're not human, you're dead."
Of the people on that ship who had gone to sea to that place, only Zheng Haiyang's mother and Zhu Changyong had returned, but they were all dead.
As for the others who stayed on the ship, they all went mad.
Zhu Changyong finally jumped into the crusher, holding the turtle. He no longer looked human, his body swollen and decayed, and one of his eyes had already exploded.
The mysterious masked man before him likely wore a mask to conceal his own physical transformation.
He had deceived the noblewoman of Yong State into building this underground palace, but it was actually for his own benefit: he wanted to survive, to return to human form.
But the latter had clearly failed, and even the success of the former was debatable.
Because, aside from the mysterious image, the man didn't exert much perceptual pressure on him.
Li Zhuiyuan still remembered Wei Zhengdao's "good friend" buried beneath the peach tree at Big Beard's house.
Though he was dead and nearing extinction, the oppression he inflicted while in the afterlife was indescribable. The twenty peeled and boiled shrimps, led by Ding Dalin and Secretary Jin, were the best proof.
Li Zhuiyuan later wondered if it was because of him that the remaining dead dared to appear near his hometown in the following months. After all, there was already a tiger lurking on this hilltop.
The only ones who emerged during this time were outsiders from the sea.
Since you're not that powerful or terrifying, I don't need to be too afraid of you. You're just a pitiful person who deceived "her" and is now hiding in the underground palace she built, barely surviving.
"The exit should be in the main cave behind you. When you designed and built this place, you must have imagined you'd recover someday. I doubt you'd trap yourself here.
Let us pass. We want to leave. We promise not to touch anything in your main cave."
The masked man turned and walked over to the kneeling corpse. He raised his hand, and a bell appeared. He began to shake it.
The sound of eggs cracking echoed from within the corpse. Then, a snake head emerged from its mouth, dancing to the sound of the bell before returning to the corpse.
Then, the corpse moved, picking up a sword from the ground and standing.
Clearly, the masked man had rejected the boy's proposed "non-aggression pact" and had initiated a provocation.
In reality, Runsheng and the other two saw the corpse rise and face them.
Runsheng said, "Xiaoyuan's going to the underworld. Protect him."
Xue Liangliang responded, "Okay, Binbin, you protect Xiaoyuan. Runsheng and I will go together."
"I understand." Tan Wenbin turned to look at the boy leaning against his back. He was just checking on him out of habit, but the moment he saw him, he exclaimed in shock, "Oh my god, Xiaoyuan's eyes are bleeding. A lot."
Runsheng and Xue Liangliang didn't look back at this, but continued to stare at the male corpse approaching them.
If they couldn't get through this stage, it wouldn't matter whether Xiaoyuan was blind or not; they might all be dead.
"It's okay, we can do it!" Runsheng soothed. "He's not a mercury corpse. We can do it!"
Xue Liangliang heard the reluctance in Runsheng's words. Given Runsheng's personality, if he truly could handle it, he would say, "We can kill him!"
Besides, there was more than one male corpse. The female corpse next to them would probably get up soon too.
Meanwhile, from Li Zhuiyuan's perspective, the masked man, having awakened the male corpse, still felt it wasn't enough, so he approached the female corpse.
The masked man raised the bell again, but this time, before he could shake it to hatch the snake eggs, the female corpse opened its eyes first.
The masked man was stunned.
The boy smiled.
In the underground palace, eight people carried the coffin. Four of them were mercury-refined corpses, fiercely loyal to their masters in life and enduring immense torture in death.
The other four were deceased veterans of their profession, considered the most difficult of the deceased. Even if Yin Zhiwang, who was lip-syncing, had a chance to control them, one against seven was pointless.
Besides, the woman on the bed was still there. She was practically a corpse demon, skilled at bewitching. With her around, he had no chance of using Wei Zhengdao's black book.
Now, things were different.
Happiness was a choice between two options. You choose one, and I choose one too.
Just as he was conversing and confronting the masked man, Li Zhuiyuan had already been attempting to synchronize with the corpse, access her memories, and even modify them.
The latter was actually quite simple, as he wasn't weaving a lie, but stating the truth.
When she opened her eyes and saw the masked man, she knew the truth.
He shouldn't have been in her master's crypt!
"Your master has been deceived and deeply harmed by him. A snake has taken possession of his body, and he continues to suffer. Go, avenge your master!"
In reality, the corpse regained consciousness, grasped the sword at her side, and stood up.
This scene sent a chill down the spines of Runsheng, Xue Liangliang, and Tan Wenbin.
But soon, something completely astonished them. The corpse rushed forward, pierced the man's body with her sword, and then pinned him down, biting him madly.
Li Zhuiyuan also opened his eyes. The bad news was that his vision was a sea of blood. The good news was that he wasn't blinded.
"Hurry, charge into the main cave and find the exit!"
Whether the female or male corpse emerged victorious, they would eventually attack the outsiders who didn't belong in the underground palace.
Runsheng wanted to carry Li Zhuiyuan, but Tan Wenbin had already taken the boy.
Seeing this, Runsheng said nothing more and led the charge into the main cave. Xue Liangliang and Tan Wenbin followed closely behind, and the four of them "passed" between the engaged male and female corpses.
The main cave was poorly decorated—to be more precise, it was completely undecorated. It was practically a natural cave. In its center sat a resplendent chair, a masked man sitting on it, his hands resting on the armrests.
In the rock above the chair, countless honeycomb-like holes formed a structure from which a dark red liquid dripped continuously.
The liquid either dripped onto the masked man or fell to the ground and pooled at his feet.
Runsheng sniffed, "It's the blood of that thing."
It was the blood of the gecko snake. Therefore, the masked man was part of this cycle. The woman above the underground palace, who dreamed of ascending to meet the snake god, was merely a pawn, feeding the gecko snakes in an endless cycle.
Behind the underground palace gate was the gecko snakes' lair. When food ran low, they would kill each other, and their blood would be collected, flowing through holes and eventually converging at the masked man's feet.
It was in this way that it was delaying its own dissipation.
Even Li Zhuiyuan had to admire his construction skills. If those enthusiasts of scenic small ecosystems knew of his existence, they would probably take an overnight train here hoping to learn from him.
As for the massive creature that attacked the exploration team from above, it was probably the king of the geckos, the result of a fratricidal war. Logically, such a large population of species shouldn't exist in the ecological environment of the exploration area. Yet, someone down there has built a system that produces one every few decades or centuries.
Li Zhuiyuan even suspected that Yin Zhiwang and his four companions had come here to deal with this massive creature that was endangering the people.
It could have sailed to sea during the Spring and Autumn Period, returning to the southwest to manipulate a small nation into doing its bidding.
If such a person hadn't fallen into death, he wouldn't have needed to be confined here. If he had developed normally, he would have been recorded in history, even in legend.
At this moment, the masked man's chest heaved, his hands clutching the armrests, as if he wanted to stand, but he was too weak, so weak that even if he were dead, he wouldn't have been able to stand.
No wonder he hadn't taken action himself earlier, but used a subtle technique to summon the thugs at the door.
Seeing him still struggling, Runsheng slammed the shovel into his chest.
"Bang!"
His chest felt brittle and caved in.
Even Runsheng was startled by the effect. This was the first time he had encountered such a vulnerable collapse. But without hesitation, he hurled another shovel at the masked man's head.
"Bang!"
The mask flew off, and the head exploded like a bitter melon.
Why a bitter melon and not a watermelon? Because the body beneath his clothes was already incredibly slender, like a shrunken, dried corpse.
For a dead body, it couldn't even retain moisture, proving it was already exhausted.
Now, he was completely at peace.
"Here, there are stone steps we've dug. We can climb up." Xue Liangliang had already reached behind the chair, where there was a curved platform to climb up.
Runsheng shouted, "Let's go!"
Li Zhuiyuan was now being carried by Tan Wenbin. He watched as Tan Wenbin deliberately approached the masked man's headless body and reached up and down his clothes.
Tan Wenbin was terrified, his hands shaking. After all, even if someone was dead, and in such a strange place, even if their head was gone, touching their clothes would still be terrifying.
But Tan Wenbin fought hard, and soon, he touched a bell: "Xiaoyuan, want it?"
"Yes."
The boy knew that Tan Wenbin was trying to find his role in the team. No matter how fearful and uncomfortable he felt, he was adding value to the team.
With a final touch, Tan Wenbin pulled out a handful of black paste from his waistband, resembling rotten straw.
"Fuck! It can't be shit!"
Just as Tan Wenbin was about to throw it away, Li Zhuiyuan suddenly cheered: "Keep it, Brother Zhuangzhuang!"
"Huh?"
He didn't know why, but since Brother Xiaoyuan wanted it, Zhuangzhuang would definitely take it with him, even if it was shit.
That wasn't filth... Li Zhuiyuan saw it; it was rotten bamboo slips.
What secret could be contained on a bamboo slip that the masked man could carry around at all times?
The value of this secret was countless times greater than that of a bell.
Rotten bamboo slips could also be repaired and their inscriptions extracted. Li Lan had previously done this.
"Binbin, hurry up!"
"Coming!"
Tan Wenbin didn't hesitate. He carried Li Zhuiyuan to the curved path and began climbing the steep ladder. Xue Liangliang was first, Tan Wenbin second, and Runsheng supported them from below.
Everyone knew that freedom lay above, so they unleashed their immense potential and climbed with all their might.
As they climbed, Xue Liangliang noticed a tremor in front of them, and the entire upward passage began to shake, as if something was about to emerge.
"Hurry up, it's coming!"
After shouting, Xue Liangliang continued upward, and the others below quickly followed. After the four of them had climbed a distance, the wall they had previously passed was breached, and a massive body emerged from within. However, it did not pursue the four upwards, but instead descended directly.
Being carried on someone's back, Li Zhuiyuan could gaze downwards. He counted the length of the body and sighed again... How long it is!
Soon, a series of rumbling sounds came from below. The object had entered the underground palace and seemed to have caused a collapse. The chain reaction was no less than a small earthquake. Terrifying clouds of dust rose from below, completely enveloping the four.
Thankfully, the four of them were not far from the top. With a final effort, they finally climbed out of what looked like an ordinary rock crevice.
All four of them collapsed to the ground, facing the sky, breathing in the fresh air, gazing at the sun and the blue sky:
"Finally out..."
(End of this chapter)