Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Dream Fan and Liu Yan were right; the Pit that abruptly appeared on the surface was not natural. Inside the Pit, there indeed lay a tomb passage.
The guiding role of Fat Man was handed over to Liu Yan as they entered the tomb passage. He only knew that a short distance into the Pit, there were obvious signs of artificial excavation, leading to a small opening just big enough to crawl through. Inside, many rusted machines were set up. The group was not well-versed in drug processing, but there were many dusty vessels piled together, and several crucibles on the ground contained some dark, unidentified substances. A long table away from the machines was stacked with numerous oil-paper packages, which contained the elixir that Fat Man longed for.
The basement was supported by many galvanized steel pipes forming scaffolding, firmly holding up the precarious workshop. A large hole opened up on either side of the wall, with a metal tube extending above the machine's exhaust vent, reaching into the large hole. Liu Yan speculated that this was a smoke discharge channel; perhaps the drug dealers were worried that directly releasing smoke would alert the forest protection team, so they redirected the exhaust into the tomb chamber.
Liu Yan couldn't help but smile wryly. They harmed both the living and the dead—what a way to go.
Initially anxious, Xin Mengfan had calmed down by now. She wasn't afraid of Zombies, but she felt a sense of reverence for this ancient tomb buried underground. She held tightly onto Pockmarked Girl's hand, constantly glancing around.
“Zombies aren't interested in this place; they must have gone in through the passage,” Liu Yan said as he crawled out of the workshop, pointing at the arched tunnel with a bitter smile. “I know nothing about tombs. I've heard that large burial sites are filled with traps. Shouldn't we have some Lighting equipment before going in?”
Xin Mengfan swallowed hard. She didn't want to return empty-handed, but upon hearing it might be a burial site, she found it hard to lift her feet.
“I don't think we need to go in; these people might be tomb raiders. I don't want to get involved,” Fat Man was the first to back out, unwilling to enter at all.
“Let’s go; we must take a look,” Xin Mengfan glared at him and said, “Liu Yan, you lead the way; we'll follow you.”
“Alright, just be careful and stay quiet,” Liu Yan nodded and turned to two Young Men. “You two stay at the back; don’t fall behind.”
“Got it.” The Young Men loaded their ammunition and handed their guns to Liu Yan, drawing out their Steel Saw Blades, allowing the girls to move ahead.
“Step lightly.” Liu Yan felt a bit nervous himself; he took off his glasses before entering the passage and squinted as he led the way.
Not bringing any Lighting equipment was a mistake, but fortunately, Liu Yan seemed to adapt well. Although slow, he managed not to make any errors as he steadily guided everyone through the passage into an unremarkable tomb chamber. Liu Yan didn’t know what to call this kind of mausoleum; it was a square room without coffins, and he could vaguely see many scattered fragments on the ground. The floor was covered in damp mud, and he could hear flies buzzing around.
Xin Mengfan strained her eyes trying to see clearly while Pockmarked Girl, whose wrist she gripped tightly, felt pain from her hold but dared not breathe too heavily in her nervousness.
“Not this way.” After scanning around, Liu Yan spotted another passage and cautiously peeked inside before frowning and saying, “Follow me.”
The squad entered cautiously, the cold, damp moldy air invading their nostrils, heavy with the scent of earth.
Leading the way, Liu Yan suddenly stopped, crouching down to murmur, "There are footprints; it must be here."
"You can still see footprints?" Xin Mengfan exclaimed in surprise.
"The perks of being a zombie," Liu Yan replied with a self-deprecating smile, not having time to explain further.
"Did you hear that?" Pockmarked Girl asked, her face strange as she halted and whispered, "I feel like the ground is shaking."
"Yeah," Liu Yan frowned and listened. All he could hear was the howling wind rushing through the corridor.
"There is something outside; it sounds like thunder," Young Man, who was at the back, also sensed it and spoke up. "Should we go check it out?"
"No need. We don't know how deep this corridor is; don't spread out," Liu Yan said, gathering his thoughts as he continued forward. Reaching the end, he found another bend. The sides were still marked by artificial excavation, and the internal space was much larger than the previous tomb chamber, with a faint dripping sound echoing.
"What is that sound?" Xin Mengfan asked, a hint of fear in her voice. Her keen ears sensed that the noise seemed to be nearby.
"It should be water; we might have reached the bottom of a river," Liu Yan said as he looked up at the dome. The black-and-white view made it easy to discern intricate textures. The ground was even wetter than in the previous tomb chamber, and stepping forward revealed a puddle of mud. The others were oblivious to their surroundings, and Liu Yan didn't bother to explain everything in the tomb; after all, they weren't here to rob graves.
This tomb chamber was large and even had "suites." Liu Yan felt a bit uneasy as he followed the muddy footprints through the ear chamber and stumbled upon something even more peculiar.
This seemed to be the end of the burial site; however, on the side wall adorned with mottled murals, there appeared another archway. Although Liu Yan didn't understand tomb structures well, he could identify defensive works. This archway was completely different from the previous corridor; its entrance was reinforced with steel pipes arranged like beams extending outward, firmly supporting the archway.
Inside was relatively dry, with a sharp smell of lime filling the air. The group covered their mouths and noses, tightly holding each other's hands as they followed Liu Yan deeper. Suddenly, a flicker caught their eyes—a dim yellow Miner's Lamp illuminated both ends of the archway.
Liu Yan smiled and pointed at the Miner's Lamp on the wall. "See? They were well-prepared."
Everyone's minds were focused on what lay at the end of the archway; there was no room for humor as they exchanged wry smiles and shook their heads.
Liu Yan took down the Miner's Lamp that was resting on the steel beam above, casting its dim yellow light toward the end of the passage. Leading the quails huddled behind her, she hurried forward, turning around two corners and ascending the corridor for several minutes until she finally stopped in front of a tightly shut metal door.
"Isn't this a bit over the top?" Pockmarked Girl exclaimed, her eyes wide behind her glasses. "Does the Zombie really need to go through all this trouble just for a passage?"
Liu Yan shot her an annoyed glance and replied, "For us, it’s a big deal. For them, it’s just digging a tunnel. You don’t know how the Log Wall camp was built?"
"I know. We found a cleared area outside the wild forest," Xin Mengfan said, increasingly curious about this seemingly overindulgent organization.
"If nothing goes wrong, behind this door is the dungeon in the warehouse, but there are a few problems," Liu Yan said as she gently pushed against the iron door, which didn’t budge.
"What is it?"
"First, the door won’t open; second, we don’t know if the Zombie is currently in the dungeon," Liu Yan lowered her voice. "But we can wait in ambush in the passage. If the Zombie returns the same way, we can catch it off guard."
"What if the Zombie doesn’t come?" asked the Pockmarked Girls.
"Then we’ll be waiting for nothing," Liu Yan shrugged. "So I’m asking for your opinion: should we rush back to camp or lie in wait here?"
"Of course we should go back, but we can’t take the old route," Xin Mengfan said firmly, pointing at the iron door. "It’s just a broken door; let’s tear it down."
Liu Yan paused for a moment, then laughed at herself for not thinking of it sooner. Of course, why did they have to open the door? This was an underground passage; there was no concrete to worry about. They could just dig out around the door.
"Fatty, you keep watch behind the passage in case of any surprises. You two come help me dig," Liu Yan said decisively. She tossed a small caliber weapon to Xin Mengfan and pulled out Steel Saw Blades with two Young Men, starting to dig into the earthen walls on either side of the iron door.
One side was illuminated; the other remained shrouded in darkness.
Behind the iron door, two people trapped in their cage still hadn’t managed to escape.
Song Jiu began to feel cold; it was a sign of excessive blood loss. Xiaofei opened his arms to him, using his not-so-warm body heat to ward off some of the chill. A man and woman had heard a muffled sound from above ground moments ago; an iron barrier separated life from death. No matter how desperate Song Jiu felt, he couldn’t escape—he simply couldn’t get out.
“Song Jiu, are you still awake?” Xiaofei rested his chin on Song Jiu's head, feeling the calm and deep breaths of Song Jiu, and asked softly.
“Mm.”
“Are we going to die?”
“Are you afraid?” Song Jiu replied with a question.
“I was scared at first, but not so much now,” Xiaofei chuckled lightly and asked him, “What about you?”
“I’m afraid.” Song Jiu's voice was calm yet somewhat suppressed as he said, “You should be afraid too. Only by fearing death will you find ways to survive. Those who aren’t afraid of death are fools. Just look at those old TV dramas; those who don’t fear death usually die quickly.”
Xiaofei found his logic amusing and laughed, “So by your reasoning, those brave heroes are fools too.”
“Respecting life is different from being timid. Facing death and ignoring it are two different matters,” Song Jiu said, resting on the soft warmth beside him. The dampness in the air mixed with the faint scent of the girl nearby made his hand’s pain gradually numb.
“So which category do we belong to now?” Xiaofei asked.
“We belong to none,” Song Jiu took a deep breath and struggled to sit up. “It’s not that dire yet. Outside there’s Luo Yu, Ziqian, Liu Yan, and Sister Jia. A hundred or so people aren’t easily defeated.”
“But without you, it’s like a headless dragon.”
Song Jiu managed a weak smile and said, “Holding the camp together is what makes it a dragon.”
“So we just wait here?”
“Yes, we wait. The warehouse has already encountered trouble. If the perimeter hasn’t been attacked, Luo Yu should be figuring out how to rescue us.” Song Jiu had immense trust in his right-hand man and stated firmly, “Conserve your strength; it’s not time to consider life and death yet.”
Perhaps in response to Song Jiu's words, a faint sound suddenly echoed in the dark silence of the dungeon.
"Shh." Song Jiu covered the mouth of the excited Xiaofei, frowning as he sat up straight.
The sound was very faint, almost inaudible against the creaking of the hidden door. There were subtle rustling noises, as if someone was moving in the dark.
The sounds continued for a few seconds, and then a hissing noise broke through the darkness as a flicker of firelight appeared, casting a dim glow from the entrance.
Song Jiu quickly squinted to look outside the cage and caught sight of a small reflective object—it was a key.
At the same time, a trembling voice called out.
"Effie, Effie, are you there?"
Song Jiu's expression changed, his brows knitting together.
Comment 0 Comment Count