Ancient tomb excavation traces

"There's no way to escape..." Although the rear chamber had a passage to the sky, it was far away from us. I gripped my Mongolian knife, crouched down, and stabbed at those utterly repulsive faces. If it were a normal person, the knife would go in white and come out red, but there was no blood left on the rotting corpses. I wanted to cry but had no tears. I never imagined that I would be rolling in such a sea of ​​corpses in my lifetime...

As I mechanically pushed away the rotting corpses, a sharp screech suddenly came from the hole in the Netherworld Tree, as if something had happened there. I was bewildered, but the sound pulled me back from the brink of despair. I looked at the situation and saw a large group of the dried corpses of the royal soldiers who had been kneeling had stood up, their faces fierce, and were gathering towards the tree hole.

As I was trying to figure out what was going on, the screams grew increasingly shrill. At the same time, chaos erupted from the tree hollow. From my angle, I could see several desiccated corpses flying out of the hollow, while those that were already outside were relentlessly pushing their way back inside. But after a short while, all the commotion abruptly ceased with a resentful shriek, and the space returned to utter silence.

I took a deep breath. Strangely, the rotting corpse that had been gripping my leg tightly suddenly collapsed. Bao Cai, standing above, stammered, "What the heck?! It feels like someone flipped the main power switch!"

Standing on the coffin, I steadied myself for a moment, snapping out of my shock. I looked around to make sure I wasn't mistaken. All the corpses had inexplicably lost their ferocity, lying silently on the mud and the crisscrossing, exposed tree roots, forming a pile of corpses. It looked like an ancient battlefield, utterly gruesome.

I looked up at Bao Cai, who seemed incredulous. Lao Tiao and Miss Lan, who had been hiding from the dried corpse, were also rescued when they were at their wits' end, just like me. So they were especially astonished. Silently, they gripped the tree branches and carefully walked to Bao Cai's side. Everyone was silent for a while, unable to say a word.

Looking at the corpses, I thought I was really about to be sacrificed. What was the purpose of this sudden turn of events? The sudden silence was both surprising and unsettling. There's usually calm before a storm, but our situation was already dire; it couldn't be any worse.

I turned my gaze to the ancestor, who was also greatly surprised. His hand was still raised in the posture of holding the knife. Sima Yan, whose corpse aura was particularly strong, had also collapsed after the commotion...

The situation changed so quickly, and my nerves were still on edge when I heard a series of heavy breathing sounds. In the absolute silence, hearing such a sound made my heart skip a beat.

We all turned our gaze toward the end of the tree hole, and suddenly a bloody hand grabbed the outer layer of the hole. I thought some hidden big boss had appeared, but when I saw a white, blood-stained figure, I gasped.

"Little Celestial Master!" Everyone exclaimed almost simultaneously.

The jade pendant around the young Taoist's neck was now only a tiny bit of crimson. I was filled with worry. He walked unsteadily across the pile of corpses, and something seemed very wrong with him. My heart was pounding. Could it be that he was the one who kicked Wang Zu's dried corpse away earlier?

Seeing him approach me expressionlessly, swaying precariously, I didn't hesitate. I jumped down and caught him, asking, "What happened? You're..."

He weakly raised his eyes, looked at me, and managed to say, "Time is running out..."

"Time is running out?" I repeated, puzzled. The fact that he could still speak meant he was still conscious. At that moment, a mix of emotions surged within me, and I didn't dwell on the deeper meaning of "time is running out." I complained, "Next time, could you at least say goodbye and let us know where you're going?"

However, the young Taoist priest's face was grim, showing no sign of relief. He glanced at us, then looked at the tree and said, "The Dust-Avoiding Pearl activated the Netherworld Tree connected to the underground. The Netherworld Tree has been nourished by piles of corpses for years, absorbing only yin energy, making it extremely evil... I..." He spat out a mouthful of blood. Seeing his terrible condition, I told him to rest for a while. He waved his hand and continued, "I... because I was tainted by evil energy, the tree spirit mistook me for their companion. I took advantage of this to get into the tree hole and get rid of the tree spirit... but I was too late. These corpses have already completed the sacrificial ritual, and soon the ghost soldiers will appear... The Netherworld Tree will spontaneously combust without its spirit... then you won't be able to get out... Now, go up... if you hear any strange noises below, don't make a sound, just keep climbing..."

I was horrified when I heard this, and the thought of it made me even more terrified. I realized that the tree spirit the young Taoist priest mentioned might be the ancient, gloomy face that had merged with the tree on the golden cauldron. I had heard the sound of the face being pulled earlier, so it had awakened. If I had known earlier that it would put us in such a desperate situation, I should have fired a burst of bullets at it!

Seeing the young Taoist priest's state, I glanced at Chen Yi and the others in the tree. They must be feeling the same way I am—grateful, yet also heartbroken that the young priest had silently gone off to work alone. I didn't know how he had overcome his current poor health to help us destroy the tree spirit, so I helped him up, intending to send him up first.

However, he pressed down on my hand and said calmly, "I can't leave..."

Hearing this, I was taken aback. Recalling all the times we'd spent together, I replied resolutely, "I told you, if you really die, I'll carry your corpse out of here!"

The young Taoist priest smiled slightly and said, "I will be a burden to you... Let's go... Sima Yan still needs you and Miss Lan to be resurrected. Before long, his true evil aura will break free from his body, and then it will be too late..."

"I already said it's too late, so let's not waste any more time!" At this moment, the ancestor walked out from the pile of corpses. He glanced at Sima Yan and said, "Look at that old monster Sima's bloodshot eyes staring at you. I bet once his evil aura comes out, he'll devour you alive! You Taoists probably don't like being devoured by evil spirits, do you?" As he spoke, he took the young Taoist priest from beside me and carried him on his back, saying, "Little rascal, you go up first!"

The young Taoist priest was stunned, not expecting his ancestor to forcibly carry him on his back. I saw a strange expression on his face and could imagine the immense shadow hanging over him. He frowned slightly and said, "You can't walk with me on your back..."

However, the old ancestor didn't care what the young Taoist priest said. He carried him on his back, climbed onto the coffin, and said, "If you want to give up your life, you still have to ask us if we agree... I, Feng Xie, only believe that things can be accomplished by human effort. As long as you still have a breath left, how will you know if you don't try... Besides, it's good that you owe me a favor..." As he spoke, he urged me.

Seeing the ancestor being so forceful, I suddenly realized I had been too slow. As soon as I thought this, I grabbed the rope. After Chen Yi and Bao Cai pulled me up, the ancestor hung the little Taoist priest on the rope and had us pull him up. Then Chu Ba and I also came up.

In the brief moment I turned around, I noticed Sima Yan's red eyes darting around strangely... My heart skipped a beat. Coming back to my senses, I suddenly saw a hand emerge from the pile of corpses. He pried open a body, revealing a head. Upon closer inspection, it was Miss Chu. My mind had been completely absorbed in the rotting corpses, and I had forgotten about her. I only saw her staggering across the pile of corpses, quickly running towards the tree hollow.

What was she doing there? My mind went blank for a moment, and I had a feeling that this girl was going to get us killed sooner or later.

The young Taoist priest, leaning against the tree trunk, seemed to realize something. His eyes suddenly sharpened, and he cried out, "Oh no! She wants to use the Netherwater in the Golden Cauldron to summon the Yin Soldiers ahead of time. I just dispelled the tree spirit and forgot about the Netherwater. Damn it... This place is not safe to stay!" As soon as he finished speaking, his blood surged, his body felt light, and he swayed precariously. Fortunately, his ancestor reacted quickly and grabbed him.

Upon hearing the words "ghost soldiers," I felt a jolt in the back of my head, as if the sky were collapsing and the earth were splitting, and the end of the world was approaching.

Chen Yi looked up at Shan Yan and said, "Damn it! This brat is always causing trouble! Comrades, it looks like we have no choice but to flee!"

Looking at Chen Yi's energetic appearance, I suddenly felt that he was like Zhang Fei, a famous general from the Three Kingdoms period. He was full of energy in times of crisis and looked extremely brave.

The old ancestor put away the grappling hook, carried the unconscious young Taoist priest on his back, tied him with a rope, and made us follow him. The path he chose was easier to climb, with less dense branches, but just enough for us to land comfortably.

Chen Yi was panting after climbing a few steps. I was afraid of leaving him behind, so I waited for him ahead. When I looked down, I saw that the will-o'-the-wisps I had seen earlier were gradually gathering and forming two rows in a regular pattern. On the ground, wisps of mist were churning, covering the rotting corpses. It was eerie and had a feeling that the gates of the underworld were about to open...