Chapter 21: The rude ‘guest’ died there

It’s hard to describe that feeling—it’s part of this tomb itself, tightening the nerves of everyone who enters, preparing them for danger and death.

Such sensations barely exist in ordinary life, so when it surfaced, the blood coursing through Ji Ting’s veins boiled with excitement.

Danger and the chance of death both inspire fear and endlessly pump adrenaline.

Deep down, Ji Ting did have a bit of heroism in him.

Of course, he preferred to call it an adventurous spirit.

He restrained himself and didn’t forget the task at hand.

Ji Ting checked the camera and earpiece on his body, confirming that both devices had malfunctioned early on due to unknown interference.

He then pulled out a specially made camera from his bag—unlike the micro camera, this one was almost purely mechanical, except for some core parts, to prevent it from failing due to unknown interference.

Before setting off, Ji Ting had also attended several training sessions to learn maintenance and repair of this device.

He powered on the camera, adjusted the settings, and clipped it onto his shoulder to record the scene ahead.

While he was busy, the Xuying had already drifted ahead along the corridor, leaving a long trail behind.

Looking back, seeing Ji Ting unmoving, it floated back: “Almost forgot, there are traps here. Watch out when you walk, though it probably won’t be a problem for you…”

Then, recalling how much the other’s skills had declined recently, it amended, “Forget it, just follow me.”

Ji Ting followed the Xuying down the corridor paved with stone slabs, slightly turning his body to ensure the camera captured both the murals and statues lining the hallway—these were precious firsthand records.

The colors of the murals were muted, mostly black and white tones, except for the shining golden figure of the Gold Masked Man, which stood out vividly.

Humble.

Wealthy.

The man wearing the golden mask was the central figure in the mural.

Compared to him, everyone else—whether by build or posture—looked incredibly insignificant.

As Ji Ting examined the mural, he roughly understood its story: people worshipped the Gold Masked Man, who granted them food and wealth.

Ancient murals were often exaggerated, tinged with a divine aura.

These murals devoted extensive space to emphasize the power and inhuman nature of the Gold Masked Man, as well as the worshippers’ devotion—they even mimicked him by wearing various masks, eventually turning into masked monsters standing beside the Gold Masked Man.

The statues placed before the murals were those strange masked creatures.

To highlight their strength, their forms combined traits from multiple animals—they were massive in size, with sharp claws and protruding fangs from their masks.

The Xuying’s mask wasn’t frightening, but in the murals and statues, masks were depicted as truly terrifying, like monsters.

Ji Ting took a few more glances at the statues—the strong inhuman aura was striking.

The masks’ eye holes were lifeless, and the sharp fangs jutted outward.

At first glance, they were intimidating, but careful inspection revealed they were merely stone sculptures.

Ji Ting withdrew his gaze and followed the Xuying’s footsteps.

The corridor wasn’t long, and they soon reached the end.

A pile of white bones leaning against the tomb’s entrance came into Ji Ting’s view.

The skulls faced the corridor, scattered among clothes and packages that had been looted countless times by those who came before, now empty and abandoned on the ground.

The Xuying glided past the skeletons and floated into the tomb chamber, still calling to Ji Ting, “Hurry up and follow.”

Inside the chamber at the corridor’s end, a night lamp burned steadily.

Pottery shards littered the floor, thick humidity hung in the air, and above the tomb, layers of red strings crisscrossed, woven into a vast web—though most of the strings were broken, some dangled in the air, others lay scattered on the ground.

The coffin, once suspended by these red threads, now lay overturned on the floor.

The coffin’s interior was empty; it was unclear whether it had been empty from the start or if its contents had been taken.

In short, the tomb chamber looked as if a swarm of locusts had passed through—looted clean, leaving nothing useful behind.

But even a locust swarm has its advantages—those who came before had uncovered a hidden passage within the tomb chamber.

In the center of the tomb was a downward passage leading below.

The Xuying took the lead, drifting down: “We’ll take the shortcut, it’s faster this way.”

The Tian Shu squad’s situation was grim.

Following the footsteps left by their predecessors deeper into the tomb, disaster soon struck.

“What the hell is going on in this damn place?”

Can Tou muttered while picking bugs crawling into his flesh, grumbling, “If I’d known, I wouldn’t have brought the wooden crate. It’s completely useless.”

Aim’s left arm hung limp, while the other hand busied itself bandaging wounds.

Seeing the squad leader put down She Lang, who had carried him all the way, Aim asked, “How is he?”

Baozi heated a small knife over a fire and helped the leader extract the bugs burrowing into his flesh, casually replying, “Not good. High fever won’t break, wounds are festering, unconscious, and with these bugs, at this rate, we might as well start preparing his funeral.”

Baozi scratched his back, saying, “I feel like some of those things have crawled onto my back too…”

Li Yishu lifted She Lang’s shirt—the round blotch on his neck had rotted since entering the tomb, spreading rapidly until his entire chest was in a horrible state.

The brief rest didn’t last long. Suddenly, Hacker jumped up, shouting, “They’re back again!”

Everyone treating wounds instantly prepared, hoisting the injured and their packs to run.

They had dumped as much as possible from their bags—only essentials remained.

Since yesterday, they had been running for their lives, and at this critical moment, they had to lighten their loads.

Soft rustling sounds came from behind.

The masked statues moved slowly on the ground.

They weren’t the main threat—the bugs inside their masks were.

There were countless of them everywhere; even a slight touch let them infiltrate thoroughly.

Can Tou said, “Remember those corpses we saw in the tomb chamber? The ones with masks growing on their faces—I suspect those bugs are responsible.”

Baozi glanced back.

The black shadows beneath the statues spread continuously, and he inhaled sharply, “These guys are relentless. Why won’t they just give up?”

Hacker panted heavily, “More up ahead! Turn, quick!”

The group turned sharply.

The statues nearby stood still until they vanished, then slowly turned their heads.

“I finally get what She Lang meant when he said he was trapped in the burial pit and couldn’t get out,” Aim said, running and watching the bones and pits on both sides.

“This place is seriously sinister!”

After following the footsteps left by their predecessors deeper into the tomb, from the decorated chamber to these pits, the style changed dramatically.

Unlike the carefully adorned tomb chamber, these pits were primitive, piled with large quantities of bones and statues.

Their predecessors’ trail ended here.

When they realized it, they faced a labyrinth with no exit.

Burial pits connected one after another, and before they could find a way out, the ever-present statues began to “come alive” one by one.

Can Tou said, “She Lang’s situation’s different. He was just trapped here and almost starved. But we’ve got all those bugs chasing us behind.”

Li Yishu slowed, falling to the back of the group, as loud crashing sounds echoed.

The statues were easy to shatter, but the things inside weren’t so easy to kill.

These strange creatures weren’t in the Tian Shu squad’s area of expertise.

Mechanical gear and combat skills were useless against them.

Li Yishu knew this well, so after smashing a statue, he immediately retreated to keep distance from the bugs.

Hacker slowed his pace, drawing a dagger to pick bugs off Li Yishu, saying, “This can’t go on. Let’s set another fire.”

Aim replied, “We tried before, didn’t we? The bugs fear fire, but those weird things don’t. If we attract them again, we won’t have protective suits left.”

Mentioning this, Can Tou was puzzled: “What exactly are these things? They can’t really be ghosts, can they? If they’re just hallucinations, then how did they put out the fire?”

When the Tian Shu squad first encountered these bugs burrowing into bodies, they hadn’t considered it too serious.

After all, fully covered in protective suits, they quickly found a solution.

They set fire to break the stalemate—both to deal with the bugs and to find the maze’s exit.

At first, events unfolded as expected: when the fire flared, the bugs struggled.

But then, they witnessed something unscientific.

Ghosts—or “Zongzi,” as they called them—suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Aim’s left arm was broken during that moment.

Without the protective suit shielding them, who knew what other “souvenirs” they might have ended up with.

“Who knows how they put out the fire? Maybe it never really caught,” Hacker’s materialistic worldview wavered but he gritted his teeth, “We can’t let these things chase us like this. Let’s try fire again.”

In the distance, faint flames flickered.

Ji Ting looked toward the glow: “Looks like something’s burning over there.”

The Xuying was unconcerned: “Don’t worry, it’ll go out soon.”

The fire in the endless burial pits indeed began to weaken.

Ji Ting was surprised: “There’s a fire suppression system here?”

The Xuying smugly said, “There’s underground water below. We’ve been going down all along; it’s close to the subterranean river.”

Ji Ting’s curiosity was piqued: “But what’s with this burial pit?”

The Xuying said lightly, “It’s a sacrificial pit. Impolite ‘guests’ who die there, at least they died meaningfully.”

Ji Ting’s doubts cleared, and he followed the Xuying a few steps outward.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind.

He stopped and turned toward the burning spot: “There are people there?!”

The Xuying chose its words carefully: “Not exactly. They’re almost dead anyway.”

Before it finished speaking, Ji Ting sprinted off toward that direction.

“The time’s running out. We need to hurry. Don’t run off on your own,” the Xuying immediately followed, “Do you know those people?”