Ancient tomb excavation traces

We could already hear faint sounds coming from the dense forest behind us. I whispered to Bao Cai and the young Taoist priest, "We have to go down!"

Bao Cai peeked out and looked at the various faces on the cliff face, muttering, "Isn't there any other way? These faces look really creepy..."

I said, "Now there are only two paths: sticking your head out means certain death, while sticking your head back might offer a glimmer of hope."

The young Taoist priest agreed and helped me say, "Those people are wicked. If we fall into their hands, we'll have to feed them those Gu worms!"

Upon hearing the words "Gu worms," ​​Bao Cai swallowed hard, seemingly having made up his mind. Now, only the witch remained. I had kindly advised her to take refuge in the water, but she glanced at me sideways, her expression as cold as ice.

I thought to myself: Hu La Ba Zi, Feng Liu, what have you done? Why did you save this female demon! I sighed deeply, and now that I think about it, I really regret it. I regret that I was soft-hearted and didn't let them kill each other.

Sigh... Just as I was filled with endless regret, I heard a "click" behind me, and then several Gu worms, like small marbles, whizzed past my ear.

My heart skipped a beat, and I immediately bent down and shouted, "Quick, jump into the water!" As I spoke, I stumbled forward a few steps. At this moment, Bao Cai reacted faster than anyone else. He squatted down, looking panicked, just like a clown in Peking Opera.

When we reached the edge of the mountain stream, we were just one step away from falling in. We were all a little scared because the water was dark and murky. You would imagine all sorts of terrifying things in it, and they would attack and tear at your flesh the moment you fell in.

The combination of darkness and the unknown, eerily shrouded in mystery, always instills boundless fear in the heart. But when the Gu worms swarmed from behind, squeaking and buzzing, we had no choice. Bao Cai let out a shout and plunged into the water in a contorted posture. The little Taoist glanced at me and then leaped into the water as well.

I had intended to follow her down in one go, but seeing the female demon standing there, staring intently at the venomous insects confronting her, I couldn't bear it. I rushed over and grabbed her hand. She hadn't expected me to come to her and cried out in surprise. After a brief silence, the venomous insects suddenly surged forward like a burst dam, emitting a deafening chorus of flapping wings that sent chills down my spine. The sound was so terrifying that goosebumps rose all over my skin. I took a step forward, and with a splash, the witch and I leaped into the water.

In fact, the water in this mountain stream was very deep, and I felt a chill when I went down. Because there was no light, everything was dark in the water, and the coldness and fear that rippled around me were indescribable.

I couldn't pinpoint my companions' location accurately; I could only make out their positions by the sound of the water gliding by. Bao Cai was the first to find me. When he suddenly popped his head out of the water, I was terrified and cursed him several times.

He asked me if the worms had gone into the water. I said, "Probably not, I didn't hear the sound of raindrops falling into water."

He breathed a sigh of relief, and then the young Taoist priest swam over. We stayed in the water, not daring to approach the mountain stream wall, because those faces were too eerie.

Since we went into the water, the witch has disappeared without a trace. I was filled with doubt. Soon, a fire appeared above us. It was the group of masked men. There were four of them. I could imagine that two of them might have been shot or seriously injured.

In the firelight, I saw the Gu worms. They were circling around the masked man and did not chase after us. At that moment, I realized that these Gu worms were not afraid of fire, but they were afraid of water. I was overjoyed, thinking that I had finally gotten rid of these deadly things.

Just then, Bao Cai screamed in alarm as something pulled him downwards. The young Taoist priest and I immediately grabbed his hands to steady him, and he cried out, "Water ghost! The water ghost is grabbing me again!"

I wondered where all these water ghosts came from… A moment later, a guess flashed through my mind. Could it be? Could it be a witch? Very likely. When I saw her earlier, she was wearing a dazzling headdress and a heavy Miao costume, which probably added a lot of weight. If she went into the water like that, she really wouldn't be able to float.

With that thought, I told the young Taoist priest to hold Bao Cai steady, while I dove into the water. My current situation wasn't good. Because of the Gu worm injury and the silver needle, it was impossible for me to move my hands much. They were like the hands of a zombie in a movie—easily torn off with a single pull. Of course, my situation wasn't that bad yet.

Growing up in the water towns of Jiangnan, and with my maternal grandparents living by the sea, I'm a fairly good swimmer. I try to use a fish-like swimming style, without using my hands. However, because my bicycle light fell off while I was dealing with a deer, I became completely blind in the water. I could only locate Bao Cai's feet by listening to his calls.

As I approached Bao Cai's legs, I quickened my search. When my palm touched something soft, the thing in the water suddenly spewed out a string of bubbles, and then she kicked me hard in the face. I winced in pain, realizing I had probably touched the witch's chest, which explained her unusually strong reaction. But saving her was the priority now, so I ignored these taboos. Composing myself, I risked being beaten again and swam back to her.

She was restless in the water, grabbing at things haphazardly. The moment I got close, she scratched my face, making it burn. I cursed under my breath and quickly reached out to help her untangle her elaborate headdress. At first, she resisted, but gradually she realized I didn't want her to drown.

After removing the headdress, her originally towering hair bun came undone like seaweed. I was covered by her head several times, which made me feel really uncomfortable, so I could only haphazardly push it aside.

Just then, I vaguely heard a muffled sound of something falling into the water. In this place, at this time, there weren't many things that could fall into the water. I thought of those masked men. With that thought, I quickly swam behind the priestess. She had swallowed several mouthfuls of water and was already dazed, so she gradually loosened her grip on Bao Cai's leg.

"Young Master..." Bao Cai called out anxiously, as if he had encountered some trouble. I was very anxious and grabbed the witch's slender waist, pulling her upstream. However, because I had fallen into the water in a hurry earlier, I hadn't had time to take off the cloth wrapping behind me, so I was now swimming very hard.

Perhaps sensing the movement, the priestess regained consciousness. She suddenly grabbed my shoulder, pushed me down, and swam upwards. My body sank, and I thought to myself: What a heartless woman! I came to save her, but she pretended to be dead to use my strength! This thought instantly angered me, and before she could swim to the surface, I immediately reached out and grabbed her ankle.

She struggled a few times after I grabbed her, then kicked me again. I'd been burned by her before, so I dodged quickly this time. But the force of the kick triggered a sudden reaction in the wound on my right arm, and my entire head throbbed with pain. I couldn't hold my breath and swallowed water, thinking: "So-called 'romantic' men always die at the hands of women. I must never be soft on women again." With that thought, I struggled to rise, finally managing to get my head above water and catch my breath. Suddenly, in the dim light, I saw a pale, disgusting face staring coldly at me.

Hu La Ba Zi! I was so scared that I didn't react for a moment, and we stood there silently facing each other for two or three seconds. Before I could come to my senses, the masked man suddenly swung the knife in his hand and slashed it towards my forehead.

In an instant, my mind went blank. The knife came too fast; there was no time to dodge! Just as I was about to die, I heard a thud, and an arrow suddenly stuck in the masked man's head. The arrow shaft shook a few times on his head, and before he could react, he had disappeared from my sight.

The knife was just an inch away from me; an inch more and my head would be severed. I stared blankly at the deep mountain stream, its ripples gradually fading, returning to stillness. At that moment, a torrent of emotions surged within me. Just moments before, Bao Cai and the young Taoist had been fighting with two other masked figures, while the witch was right behind me, the arrow coming from the direction of the small waterfall to our left. I regained my composure, took a breath, and looked in that direction, instantly bursting into tears.

That figure, slightly plump, I thought I'd never see again. But now he's genuinely smiling at me, yelling, "Ryu, why are you such a handful!"