Ancient tomb excavation traces

The scene below was eerily strange, making one feel a sudden weakness in their hands and feet, and causing wrinkles to form all over their body. At the same time, a faint and distant shout came from the rear chamber. I couldn't understand the content... but the tone was very excited and passionate, like a warrior about to go to the battlefield to kill the enemy. However, the voice seemed to come from another world, making it feel very unreal.

Even more terrifying was that Sima Yan's corpse lay on the muddy ground, and the black mist that enveloped his body was struggling to break free from his original flesh. The head of the black shadow had already broken off more than halfway, and a pair of blood-red eyes flowed like firelight, revealing boundless ferocity.

Seeing this scene sent a chill down my spine. I hadn't even noticed that Chen Yu had crawled up to me. He urged me, "Damn it, Liu Zi, what are you standing there for! Hurry up and crawl!"

His sudden call brought me back to my senses, but unexpectedly, a tiny, dark shadow flew past in front of me. The shadow had red eyes. Before I could even react, a large group of dark figures, accompanied by a chilling wind, lashed at my face like ghosts. Terrified, I instinctively raised a hand to slap them away. The situation above was equally urgent; the ancestor shouted, "Oh no! It's fairy rats (bats)! Hold on tight to the branches and lower your heads!!"

My heart skipped a beat, and I hurriedly did as the old man had told me, but the branch I was holding snapped with a crack! Before my mind could process what was happening, I lost my footing and fell.

The last thing I saw was Chen Yu's extremely panicked eyes. I thought I was about to say goodbye to him, but he shouted, suddenly stretched out his hand, and grabbed me with all his might. His other hand was tightly gripping a thick branch. My body swayed slightly, my mind blank. Drops of blood dripped onto my cheek, warm and soft… I looked up and saw Chen Yu grimacing in pain. I knew that if he kept holding me, I would be crippled. I immediately said, "Old Yu, let go…"

Chen Yi held his breath, unable to reply. Bao Cai came down at this moment, holding a tree branch in one hand and waving the other, afraid that the bat was disturbing Chen Yi.

My heart was filled with anxiety. Chen Tiao was bleeding more and more, and if it continued, he would be covered in blood. I tried to pry his hands open with my other hand, but if I moved, he would fall down with me.

I was anxious, but seeing Chen Yi's determined eyes and the prominent veins on his forehead, I knew that if he couldn't pull me up today, he would regret it for the rest of his life. I imagined his gray-haired, heartbroken look as he gazed at my photo, and a wave of sadness washed over me. To prevent him from being reminded of me by these things in his old age, I decided to fight to the death. At the same time, he was trembling all over, his face flushed red, seemingly having reached his limit.

"Ah—!" he yelled, using all his strength to pull me up the tree. To avoid letting him down, I clung desperately to a branch as we swung. Although the branch snapped off in the force of my grip, and I gashed my stomach, I managed to stay up there, avoiding a fatal fall or being left in the horrific pile of corpses. In that moment, I realized that sometimes, life and death are separated by a single thought.

The ancestors breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that I was alright. Since he was carrying the little Taoist priest on his back and had used up more energy than us, he planned to rest for a while.

Chen Yi felt relieved and breathed heavily. His hands hung limply from the tree branches, trembling uncontrollably. He lay there, utterly exhausted. After catching his breath, he said, "Damn it... you... how... how are you so heavy... I used up ninety percent of my energy on you..."

Seeing his expression, a warm feeling welled up inside me. Bao Cai said from the side, "Since we still have 10% energy left, don't stop, keep climbing! We're on the path to light. Once we get past this hurdle, we'll see blue skies, white clouds, and beautiful women and wine from ancient times..."

Chen Yi turned his head, glared at Bao Cai, and said, "You only have a hole in your butt, but I have two big holes in my body. I've used up all the blood in my blood trough. If I don't have enough blood left, I'll be dead..."

Hearing Chen Tiao's words, Bao Cai and I exchanged a glance. We knew that Old Tiao was usually extremely concerned with saving face, and would absolutely keep quiet about any trouble or illness. His current frankness... meant he couldn't hold out any longer and was giving us a heads-up.

Although I'm not Bao Cai, I'm certain he, like me, has a bad feeling. He climbed down from the top of the tree branch, nimbly reaching my side, and whispered, "It's rare to see Fatty Chen like this. I think it's better if you stay with me. If he collapses, the two of us can try to hold him off. If he really dies, at least we can take his body with us, instead of leaving him all alone here..."

Chen Yi had originally intended to tell us that his condition was bad, but he couldn't bear the thought of losing face and angrily cursed, "Go to hell! Who said I was going to die! You rascal, can't you say anything nice?"

"A dog is one that can't produce ivory!" Bao Cai replied sarcastically.

"Don't you dare nitpick with me, I'm saying the same thing!"

Watching the two of them, who clearly cared for each other yet still engaged in a "love-hate" relationship, I couldn't help but sigh. I had only climbed a short distance when I heard a strange rustling sound. Bao Cai, seeing me suddenly stop, hurriedly asked me what was wrong. I said, "It's a very strange sound."

Upon hearing this, he paused for a moment, then looked at me with horror and said, "It's insects, an army of insects!"

I was stunned. Looking around at the dark cave walls, I saw a rustling sound, and cold sweat poured down my back. "So many insects," I said, "are they here to attack us?"

"If such a large force were to deal with us, would we still be alive today?" Chen Yi asked.

Bao Cai, being quite perceptive, considered a possibility. He said, "With so many corpses here, the environment has become extremely decomposed. Some eerie animals, like millipedes, and various insects that thrive in damp conditions would be mixed in here. They must have foreseen the terrible catastrophe that was about to happen, so they fled as a whole!"

"Holy crap! What kind of crisis... could make even Bug Master like this?" Chen Yi was panting heavily as he climbed.

Bao Cai said quietly, "Perhaps even the Insect Lord is afraid of the Yin Soldiers! No, not the Yin Soldiers, they're probably afraid of a kind of deathly aura..."

The insects, like a ribbon of water, crawled rapidly upwards with a sweet, fishy smell. The rear chamber, "Taking the Circle of Heaven," is like a large, straight-sided cup, where the crawling sounds of the insects are amplified infinitely, monotonous and unsettling.

We crawled forward a few steps when I suddenly felt an itch on the back of my hand. Then, I felt something fine and hairy brushing past me. I was startled and looked at Bao Cai. His bare hands were covered in a layer of hair, and my heart skipped a beat. Upon closer inspection, I was horrified—they were all insects!

A cold sweat broke out on my brow. I wanted to warn Bao Cai, but I was afraid that if I made a sound and told him this cruel truth, he would panic and instinctively try to brush it off, then fall from the tree...

However, Bao Cai quickly sensed something was wrong. He looked at his arm, his eyes wide, and then looked at me in horror. I was afraid he was about to scream, so I quickly shushed him to keep calm.

His brows were furrowed, his facial expression exaggerated, as if he were in great pain. However, he knew the habits of insects, so he was still clear-headed and didn't move too much.

It was only at this moment that I realized that we were surrounded by insects!

Although Bao Cai is a graduate student in the Department of Zoology and has a deep love for insects, he only shows them in small groups, not in such large numbers.

The insects in his hand had long, densely packed, slender legs that gave him the creeps. He identified them as "wall spiders" and some as dark, round, blueberry-like creatures with large, round bellies, which he considered rare "cave blind spiders." Both were venomous. The former simply preferred rotten, damp environments, but the latter were truly creatures that could only survive in caves; escaping them would likely mean certain death.

Insects have a keen instinct for natural disasters and are not unaware that going out is suicide. Yet, they still flee in panic, which means that the yin energy below has made them feel an unprecedented despair.

The thought of caterpillars crawling all over me with acidic venom made me itch uncontrollably. I tried to focus my attention on the tree branch rather than listen to the creepy sounds.

Bao Cai said, "Hey, fellow insects, we're all in the same boat, so please don't mess with us..." Before he finished speaking, his hand reached up a branch, and with a "splat," several insects were accidentally crushed by Bao Cai, releasing a strange smell.

Bao Cai looked like he'd stepped on a landmine, his face contorted in misery as he said, "Oh no, I'm in big trouble!"

He stepped on a landmine, and I, being next to him, was also affected. My two unfortunate brothers knew we were about to be baptized by the swarm of insects, and our bodies stiffened with fear. However, after waiting for a few seconds, the insects around us continued to crawl forward, as if they had been implanted with some kind of mechanical thought of walking in a straight line.

Bao Cai and I looked at each other and suddenly realized that we had been presumptuous. Insect Master was too busy taking care of himself to care about us.

Bao Cai and I breathed a sigh of relief. Apart from some venom on the parts of our bodies that the creeping insects had crawled over, causing itchy skin and red spots, we were otherwise fine. But since others dance with wolves, we were forced to walk with insects. No matter how indifferent they were to us, I couldn't help but feel uneasy looking at these endless, swarming little creatures.

I suppressed my urge to feel a surge of trypophobia and hurriedly climbed up again. Just then, a strange laugh filled the back chamber. I saw our ancestor above us staring straight down, and I followed his gaze...

At this moment, Miss Chu stood atop the pile of corpses, her hands outstretched, madly surveying her surroundings, and cackled, "It's coming...it's finally coming...hahaha..."