It was shocking to see someone who had likely been submerged here for over a hundred years still able to hint with their eyes and mouth.
At that moment, the surprise he brought was even greater than the one sitting on the bed.
Not just Li Zhuyuan, but everyone kept glancing back and forth between the door and the big bed, naturally catching sight of that person's guidance.
However, Runsheng always listened to Li Zhuyuan’s words, and Tan Wenbin only took the initiative to liven things up, never chiming in during decision-making.
Only Xue Liangliang grasped Li Zhuyuan’s arm and gently applied a little pressure toward the bed.
"Xiaoyuan, make a decision."
Xue Liangliang signaled his intent; he wanted to go towards the bed.
This was also Li Zhuyuan’s choice.
Sometimes, the complexities of human nature, with its dazzling intricacies and deceptions, could be cast aside; one just needed to focus on the key points: We must know that these four people from the Qing Dynasty must have faced the same situation and made the most normal choice to rush into the door; then, they transformed from corpse fishers into bed bearers.
Actually, they didn’t need that person to remind them.
When the four of them appeared among the bed bearers, Li Zhuyuan had already made his choice.
The reason he hesitated for a moment was akin to taking a few deep breaths before bungee jumping.
"Rush past the bed!" Everyone immediately began to run.
This scene was reminiscent of when they first entered the underground palace and approached the giant snake mouth door; it felt like they delivered themselves right into the other’s mouth.
In an instant, seven out of the eight bearers shifted their gazes from a parallel view to the four rushing toward them.
The golden curtains slowly billowed open, and the long hair of the woman inside began to part to the sides.
Li Zhuyuan saw her face; it was a human face but covered in snake scales, and her eyes reflected snake-like pupils.
The four of them reached the front of the bed, and the other three quickly bent down to avoid hitting their heads.
Only the boy remained upright.
While running beneath the bed, Li Zhuyuan caught a glimpse of the “Qing Dynasty reminder” person’s waist, where hung a jade pendant.
Without thinking, the boy instinctively reached out to grasp it.
The pendant might contain some identity information about this person; although their reminder did not influence his decision, he still felt gratitude.
If he could find this person's descendants or pupils, he would return the favor.
As for the truck driver Zhu Yang, Li Zhuyuan had already had Xue Liangliang send money to him.
Li Sanjiang hadn’t taught the boy much about corpse fishing, since most of his techniques were actually wrong.
But the boy had learned one vital lesson from Li Sanjiang: the kindness of corpse fishers.
However, this tug didn’t pull anything away and nearly caused him to stumble.
Li Zhuyuan decisively released his hold.
He couldn’t stop or follow the big bed just for a jade pendant’s sake.
At last, the four of them crawled out from beneath the bed and hurriedly ran a short distance to the edge of the water pool.
The eight bearers and the figure on the bed merely “watched” them without making any moves, whether out of disinterest or having more pressing matters to attend to.
“Ding…” The pendant that hadn’t been pulled down fell from the waist, rolling down until it landed before Li Zhuyuan.
He reached down to pick it up, blowing off dust to reveal five carved words: “Expectation of Fengdu’s Shadow.”
Fengdu also referred to Fengdu City, now part of Fuling, Sichuan, not far from where he was currently in Wanzhou.
The surname “Yin” was relatively rare, and since they were genuine corpse fishers, it shouldn’t be difficult to find their descendants.
After pocketing the pendant, Li Zhuyuan looked up to see the eight bearers had arrived at the big door.
“Ha ha ha…” Laughter continued to erupt from inside the door, and the woman’s face behind it kept peering out.
The edge of the bed crashed against the door, producing a thunderous noise.
Tan Wenbin exclaimed in surprise, “Isn’t bringing someone to transcendence this simple and crude?”
Xue Liangliang retorted, “What else do you expect? Do you really believe in transcending?”
Tan Wenbin shook his head. “No, that’s not it. I just feel it should at least be a little more beautiful and romantic.”
“Creak…” The previously slightly ajar door was now slowly forced open by the sturdy and powerful feet of the bed.
Simultaneously, at the water pool behind the four of them, a series of “crack…” sounds emerged.
The four immediately turned around, discovering the bed and the eight dead bodies submerged in the water pool.
The water level was quickly dropping.
Xue Liangliang exclaimed, “There’s a switch underneath! It should be connected to that big door above; we have to open them together.”
As the big door gradually opened, the water in the pool continued to drain faster, soon leaking out almost entirely, revealing a hollow at the bottom.
Tan Wenbin remarked, “It’s like when you pull the plug from a bathtub.”
Li Zhuyuan pondered, “Maybe this is the true way out?”
Tan Wenbin was puzzled, “But doesn’t it lead down?”
“Ha ha ha…” The laughter behind the door suddenly intensified.
The four turned to see the woman’s face behind the door multiply from one to two, then to four, eight… before long, the sides of the door were filled with women’s faces from top to bottom.
They were all laughing hysterically, their laughter uncanny.
Tan Wenbin swallowed hard, “So many?”
Li Zhuyuan's ears twitched as he said, “Not just them.”
As the door was finally smashed open, the faces that had been hanging behind the door crawled out—yes, crawled— because behind each face was a body resembling a gecko, with its limbs shrunken and covered in slime, its feet having almost completely deteriorated, and it slithered rapidly instead.
It looked like a snake, but not quite—it was hard to tell if it was an evolution or a degeneration.
All the women’s faces were eerily similar, almost identical in appearance.
Li Zhuyuan suspected that this was likely the true form of the woman on the bed; she had turned into the snake, while the snakes had morphed into her.
They had emerged.
Initially crawling along the door frame, they exploded forth, swarming out in thick numbers, creating a black tide of faces pressing against each other, forming close, ghastly smiles.
“Oh no!” Tan Wenbin couldn't help but shout a curse.
The others felt the same; if they had chosen to rush inside, they would have fallen right into the nest of these creatures.
Just the thought made one’s scalp tingle.
Most of the gecko-snakes crawled toward the upper end of the underground palace.
As the fire piles of bones flared up, a swarm of fireflies gathered above, eating the fireflies—this was their feast.
Suddenly, Li Zhuyuan connected several dots in his mind.
It seemed there was a life cycle within this underground palace.
Whenever the fireflies multiplied to a certain degree, the gecko-snakes behind the door would call out like they were beckoning their mother to feed them.
Then, the woman with the serpent face on the bed would command the dead to lift the bed, leaving the pool to climb the stairs and force open the gate to paradise.
This was indeed paradise, but not for people to enter from outside; it was for things inside to come out to feast.
The appearance of himself and his friends acted more like a catalyst—it could be themselves with flashlights or torches, or merely a slight commotion, awakening the fireflies prematurely.
The gecko-snakes behind the door would also call out, hastening the process of this dining ritual.
In a sense, this was a sort of anti-theft mechanism.
Due to the early trigger, the number of fireflies would surely be insufficient, and whatever life remained in the underground palace would become their targets.
At this moment, the front-line gecko-snake had lunged down, targeting the pile of bones and the preserved beasts, specifically for the fireflies within.
The latter gecko-snakes were beginning to struggle to find food, with several already slithering rapidly toward the position of the four.
There was no time to hesitate; even if the door below the pool led to hell, jumping down was better than being devoured by these creatures or, worse yet… being parasitized.
“Jump down!” The four jumped into the water pool, then into the cave below, where steps awaited, and this time, Runsheng took the lead.
The first gecko-snake lunged from the tunnel wall toward him, flicking its tongue.
“Bang!” Runsheng struck at it with his shovel, but it dodged quickly, wriggling away and then bouncing back to launch at him with great speed.
The speed was so fast that Runsheng barely had time to swing his shovel again, but just as the gecko-snake was about to hit him, he grabbed it with his left hand.
“Hisssss…” It was in pain, and the woman’s face was tortured.
Upon closer examination, he realized that it wasn’t truly a human face but rather a grotesque visage formed by skin tags pressing together.
It resembled a modern paper origami craft, where each surface depicted different patterns as the corners held up, revealing the large mouth in the center completely opening.
“Smack!” Runsheng smashed the gecko-snake violently against the wall, a strong force that splattered its foul juice.
Next came the second and third as he kept smashing and retreating, needing to buy time for his teammates behind him.
As more gecko-snakes poured into the tunnel, Runsheng began to struggle.
Two had bitten his left arm and right thigh, and one had managed to wrap around his back, its mouth gaping as it clung like a suction cup.
“Runsheng, come back!” Xue Liangliang’s voice called.
Without hesitation, Runsheng decided to run back.
Xue Liangliang and Tan Wenbin stood at either side of the tunnel, and as Runsheng dashed past, they worked together to pull two bronze plates from their respective notches, crashing them into each other.
“Smack! Smack!” Several gecko-snakes were crushed between the clanging plates.
“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!” A succession of impacts came from outside as numerous gecko-snakes slammed into the door, but fortunately, the door held firm, effectively blocking them.
The gate had no latch or locking mechanism; both sides could open it, but one needed to apply force from the sides—clearly, the gecko-snakes outside lacked that capability.
Tan Wenbin observed the squirming gecko-snakes on the floor, even those that had been crushed continued to wriggle and emit a ghostly laughter, and he raised his foot to stomp on them, utterly pulverizing them.
Meanwhile, Runsheng tore off the two snakes biting into his arm and leg, also ripping off pieces of flesh in the process.
He took one in each hand and smacked them.
“Smack!” He crushed them both at once.
Li Zhuyuan wanted to help him pull the one off his back, but Runsheng sidestepped.
“Xiaoyuan, don’t touch that. Step back.”
After saying this, Runsheng slammed his back against the tunnel wall, crushing the snake into a pulp.
“Ah…”
What had initially felt painless during the previous flesh removal became acutely painful once he exploded that one on his back, the sensation shooting straight to his brain.
Once Runsheng’s back left the wall, he discovered the now pulped gecko-snake still clung to him, with a mandible embedded in his side.
This one wasn’t just eating flesh; it was preparing to parasitize!
Perhaps that was why those four Qing Dynasty corpse fishers had become bed bearers.
Runsheng reached back instinctively and caught it.
“Bro Runsheng, no…” Before the warning could complete, he tore that thing off his back.
The mandible didn’t remain behind because he had ripped off a chunk of flesh the size of a Mahjong tile.
“Ugh…”
Runsheng was slightly invigorated, as though it brought him some relief.
It resembled a numbing effect produced by some substance secreted during the gecko-snake's parasitism, like scratching a mosquito bite.
Xue Liangliang’s anxious eyes scanned around; everyone’s clothes were soaked, and there was no suitable disinfectant or materials for blood-stopping.
Yet Runsheng calmly pulled out a tin that contained “cigars.” Upon opening it, the coarse aroma inside had not gone stale; Aunt Liu’s personally crafted tin had excellent waterproofing.
He pulled out one, chewed it, and spat it into his palm, then systematically applied it to his wounds.
“Is it effective?”
Runsheng shook his head. “I don’t know.”
After observing for a moment, Xue Liangliang exclaimed, “Hey, it really worked. Bleeding has stopped.”
Leaning against the tunnel wall, Runsheng sat down, panting.
But soon, he pushed himself up from the ground. “Xiaoyuan, I’m good.”
“Bro Runsheng, why don’t you rest a bit longer?”
“No, I’m fine; just a bit dizzy, like the feeling of being tipsy, but not fatigued.” This was likely the lingering effects of the numbing.
Seeing this, Li Zhuyuan stopped being coy. “Then let’s continue moving; we can really rest once we leave here.”
The four continued onward, this time, Tan Wenbin and Xue Liangliang took the lead while Runsheng kept to the back.
Xue Liangliang said, “Xiaoyuan, earlier that gate seemed prepared specifically for those monsters. Did we take too long to come down?”
“Actually, it wasn’t too late. The big door above had to be forced open before the small door beneath the pool would also open. Once the corpse water drained completely, it became visible; by then, the big door was already wide open, and those things inside had already darted out.
The only time we could have created a time difference was when we noticed the water in the pool was leaking, allowing us to slip into the corpse water as soon as the small door opened. But it was our first time here, and we weren’t able to react so quickly. Also, that gate wasn’t made for outsiders like us.”
Xue Liangliang pondered: “Hmm?”
Li Zhuyuan pointed the flashlight upward, illuminating the tunnel’s top, where wall paintings became visible: “This place was designed for her specifically.”
Looking at the overhead murals, Xue Liangliang nodded. “It seems she designed her own living quarters.”
Tan Wenbin queried, “But does a tomb require such decoration?”
Li Zhuyuan responded, “This isn’t a tomb; the tomb owner never intended to rest here. In fact, when she ‘lived’ here, she might not have even been dead.”
Tan Wenbin asked incredulously, “Someone could be buried without dying?”
“There are; different pursuits,” Li Zhuyuan paused, “White House Town is like this.”
Xue Liangliang, undeterred, gazed at the ceiling murals, saying, “The scenes depicted should be from the ancient Yong state, right?”
Li Zhuyuan affirmed, “Yes, the woman on the bed was possibly a ruler of the ancient Yong state, someone of secular power or a religious priestess.”
The mural illustrated a woman of noble birth being worshipped by many, guiding the creation of this underground palace, choosing the fiercest beasts and strongest warriors, ascending the grandest of heavenly ladders, with clouds at the top, where a massive python awaited.
In fact, it looked quite like a dragon but lacked the signature features like horns and instead had a long tongue.
Above the python was the sun, and at its tail was the moon, symbolizing that within her worldview, the python ruled over the alternation of day and night.
In the final painting, the woman led her loyal warriors and beasts up the heavenly ladder to confront the massive python; this represented her version of paradise.
“Wait!”
As Li Zhuyuan halted, calling for the team to stop, he began to step backward, scanning the murals for where the woman stood in relation to the others.
“Look, in these murals, whether she was receiving worship or directing the construction of the underground palace, there always stands a comparatively slender, darker shadow behind her. But in the final mural, when the woman ascended, he was no longer there.”
This silhouette was painted in much the same way as the background characters, only appearing somewhat thinner and darker.
It could be a mistake during painting, but since this special “him” appears in every mural aside from the last, it indicates something intentional.
Xue Liangliang acknowledged, “Indeed, it seems they were deliberately emphasizing him, proving that he held significant status back then, or was someone the woman highly regarded. Additionally, I’m unsure if ancient times worked this way, but nowadays, most often, on such projects, the actual responsibilities are often held by subordinates while the primary role sits as merely for show.
The mural’s depiction of the woman’s position is absolute, likely reflecting the political correctness of that era; the figure behind her should be the one truly guiding and helping her achieve of Yong state high status, building this underground palace, and assisting her ascension.”
Li Zhuyuan remarked, “However, that guiding hand never made it to paradise to see the great python.”
After a moment of silence, both Xue Liangliang and Li Zhuyuan concluded simultaneously:
“She was deceived.”
Clearly, the altar or transcendence pool above did not yield the joyful result the woman desired.
Now she resembled a parasitized tool, like a key, responsible for opening and closing doors here, maintaining the cycle within the underground palace.
Tan Wenbin cautiously asked, “Brothers, I have no other intentions; I merely wish to know, shouldn’t we focus on escaping? What’s the meaning of all this discussion?”
Xue Liangliang answered, “If this place was entirely her domain, we’re likely safe now. If not, then we’ve truly entered here.”
Hearing this, Tan Wenbin’s expression twitched.
Li Zhuyuan shone the flashlight ahead, saying, “Let’s go; we need to be cautious; it’s not the time to drop our guard.”
Not long after escaping the mural area above, they encountered steps leading up.
This was good news.
For the four seeking to escape, every upward path was worth attempting.
As they walked on, both sides displayed rounded archways that looked like upper chamber designs in tombs, yet when the flashlight illuminated them, they found them empty.
“Have the water monkeys raided this place?” Tan Wenbin asked.
Li Zhuyuan shook his head, “No, the water monkeys can’t clean like this.”
Scanning again, he confirmed, “I think they hurriedly left this place a mess after the woman above was tricked; they likely didn’t store anything below here.”
Continuing forward, they encountered two more pairs of empty chambers again, further supporting Li Zhuyuan’s theory.
Finally, they stood before a large archway.
According to patterns in underground architecture, after the ear chambers, it should lead to the main chamber.
Two figures knelt on either side of the archway, both clad in leather armor, resembling those two beings among the beasts of the underground palace.
Behind them, their wall had small snake heads, with a constant stream of water flowing down, dripping onto them.
Runsheng noted, “The smell of corpse water is very strong.”
How could corpses soaked in water for this long not smell?
He adjusted his neck, drew his shovel, feeling tired and unwell yet knowing he had to step up.
Tan Wenbin and Xue Liangliang readied their flashlights, prepared to back Runsheng up as soon as the bodies awakened; it was the last step, and to leave, they had to fight.
While they posed themselves for action, the two corpses gave no sign of awakening yet—perhaps they were still too distant for it to trigger.
Li Zhuyuan raised his flashlight upward, revealing two more murals.
One depicted a ship on the sea, with a person standing aboard, both appearing quite small in the corner; the focal point lay at a diagonal opposite, where a massive structure loomed beneath the surface.
This architecture was strange, resembling an underwater palace, yet it appeared to have the form of a giant beast with a head, horns, and long whiskers, with a sun and moon floating above.
This formation and scene made Li Zhuyuan reminisce about the image his mother had described in the mental hospital.
Could it be that the man who deceived the noblewoman from Yong state had been to that place at sea?
In the second mural, a man stood upon a mountain, surrounded by peaks, with a woman kneeling at his feet.
The connection of these images seemed to signify that the man had traveled to that mysterious place in the East Sea and returned to the Southwestern Yong state and took this woman as his follower.
If he had truly gone there, did he bring something back with him?
Or perhaps… upon returning, was he still the same person?
At this moment, a sense of unease crept into Li Zhuyuan, faintly pricking his nerves.
Walking in the shadows too long had provided a different effect: heightened sensitivity to certain aspects, though that wasn’t necessarily a blessing.
If this escalated further, his nerves would eventually snap.
Li Zhuyuan grasped Tan Wenbin’s arm, resting his forehead against his back, closing his eyes.
This time, he did not mention time; if the issue wasn’t resolved properly, needing to call for awakening would not hold much merit either.
Successfully delving into the shadows.
When Li Zhuyuan lifted his head, Runsheng and the others had vanished.
Before him stood a man and a woman, both still kneeling at the sides of the archway, with a third figure emerging center-stage.
He was clad in golden brocade garments and wore a snake-shaped mask, creating a mysterious and imposing presence.
The two figures stood in silence, gazing at one another for some time.
Finally, the boy said, “You’re definitely not human—you’re a corpse.”
As for the figure on the ship who had ventured to that place, the only known returnees were Zheng Haiyang’s mother and Zhu Changyong, both of whom had become corpses.
As for those left behind on the ship, they had all gone mad.
Zhu Changyong had leapt with a turtle into the grinder, having lost all semblance of humanity—his body severely decayed and bulging, with one eyeball having burst long ago.
The masked man before him concealed possibly deforming physical changes beneath his mask.
Li Zhuyuan comprehended that the one who deceived that noblewoman from Yong state to build this underground palace was also for himself; he wanted to survive, to restore his humanity.
However, it was apparent he had failed, and whether the noblewoman's ambitions had succeeded remained questionable.
For the figure had not exerted much pressure on him beyond the mysterious aura.
Li Zhuyuan recalled the “good friend” of Wei Zhengdao buried beneath the peach tree at the big-bearded man’s home;
Though that friend had turned into a corpse and was nearly faded, the pressure felt during the encounter was beyond words, with the twenty peeled-dried white shrimps led by Ding Dalin and Secretary Jin serving as the best proof.
Li Zhuyuan even speculated that this situation had deterred other corpses from daring to roam near his hometown in the following months; after all, a tiger was already laid in the mountain.
During this period, the only ones that had emerged were those from at sea.
As this individual was not so formidable, he wouldn’t provoke unnecessary fear; he was merely a pitiful person feigning survival underground after deceiving “her.”
“The exit must be within the main chamber behind you; when you designed and built this place, you definitely envisioned reviving one day. I don’t believe you would trap yourself here. Let us pass; we want to leave, and we promise not to touch anything in your main chamber.”
The masked man turned, stepping before the kneeling male corpse.
He raised his hand and jingled a bell, the sound echoing.
From within the male corpse, the noise of hatching eggs echoed, then from the mouth of the male corpse, a snake head poked out, dancing to the sound of the bell before retreating back inside.
Then, the male corpse stirred, picked up a sword from the ground, and stood upright.
It was clear that the masked man rejected the boy's proposition of a “non-aggression pact” and initiated a provocation instead.
In reality, Runsheng and the others saw the male corpse stand, facing them.
“Runsheng, Xiaoyuan is in the shadows, protect him!”
Xue Liangliang urged.
Runsheng nodded. “You protect Xiaoyuan, I’m heading in with Runsheng.”
“I understand.” Tan Wenbin turned to the boy leaning against his back; he only meant to check his condition but was astonished when he noticed, “Oh no, Xiaoyuan’s eyes are bleeding, a lot!”
Runsheng and Xue Liangliang did not turn back upon hearing this; they remained focused on the male corpse gradually approaching them.
If they couldn’t pass this barrier, it wouldn’t matter whether Xiaoyuan was blind—everyone could very well lose their lives.
“It’s fine; we can handle this!” Runsheng comforted. “He’s not a mercury corpse; we can handle this!”
Xue Liangliang discerned the reluctance in Runsheng’s words; given Runsheng's demeanor, if he truly believed they could win, he would have said, “We can kill him!”
Moreover, there was not just this male corpse; the female one beside it was likely to rise shortly.
Meanwhile, from Li Zhuyuan’s perspective, after awakening the male corpse, the masked man seemed unsatisfied as he walked towards the female corpse.
Again, the masked man raised the bell, but before he could ring it to hatch the snake eggs, the female corpse opened her eyes first.
The masked man was stunned.
The boy smiled.
Within the underground palace, the eight bearers carried the coffin; among them, four were mercury corpses, loyal to their master in life and suffering greatly at death; the other four were predecessors in their trade—harder to deal with among the corpses.
Even if “Yin’s Expectation” could attempt some control, it was meaningless against seven.
Furthermore, the woman on the bed was still present—she was almost like a corpse demon, adept at deception.
With her there, Li Zhuyuan had no opportunity to utilize Wei Zhengdao’s black leather book.
Now, things had changed.
A choice between happiness; pick one, and I’ll choose another.
During the dialogue and standoff with the masked man, Li Zhuyuan had already been attempting to resonate with the female corpse, reading her memories while concurrently modifying them.
The latter’s challenge was not significant, as he needed to weave not a lie, but a statement of facts.
When she opened her eyes and saw the masked man before her, she would understand the truth.
Because he was never meant to appear in the master’s underground palace!
“Your master has been cruelly deceived by him, occupied by the snake, and has suffered torment relentlessly. Go, avenge your master!”
In reality, the female corpse reared, grasping a sword at her side, and stood upright.
This scene chilled Runsheng, Xue Liangliang, and Tan Wenbin to the core.
But quickly, an unexpected sight unfolded before them, as the female corpse lunged forward and pierced the male corpse through with her sword, pinning him down and viciously biting at him.
At this moment, Li Zhuyuan opened his eyes.
The bad news was that, through his view, everything was blood-red, but the good news was he hadn’t gone blind.
“Quickly, charge into the main chamber and find the exit!”
Regardless of the outcome between the female and male corpses, they would inevitably turn on the intruders who did not belong in this underground palace.
Runsheng intended to assist Li Zhuyuan, but Tan Wenbin rushed ahead and lifted the boy onto his back.
Seeing this, Runsheng fell silent, leading the charge into the main chamber, with Xue Liangliang and Tan Wenbin following closely behind.
They slipped past the wrestling male and female corpses.
Inside the main chamber, the décor was rudimentary—more accurately, it bore no decoration at all, practically a natural cavern.
In the center stood an ornate chair of gold and jade, on which sat the masked man, both hands resting on the armrests.
Above the seat, numerous beehive-like holes were carved into the rock, continuously dripping dark-red liquid.
This liquid dripped upon the masked man or pooled at his feet.
Runsheng sniffed the air. “It’s blood from that thing.”
The blood of the gecko-snake, henceforth confirming that the masked man was part of this cycle; the woman above who dreamed of transcending to meet the snake god was merely a pawn in his game, being used to raise those gecko-snakes through this cycle.
Beyond the doors of the underground palace lay their lair; without enough food, they would also turn on each other, spilling blood that would be collected through those holes, ultimately accumulating at the masked man.
This was how he maintained his survival.
Li Zhuyuan couldn’t help but admire his structural ability; if those enthusiasts of ecological viewing knew of his existence, they would probably rush here by train, hoping for learning opportunities.
As for the immense beast that had attacked the exploration team earlier, it was probably the king it produced from devouring one another; under such an ecological environment, it was contradictory to have such a massive species.
But what did it matter? The underlying system built ensured that every few decades or so, one would emerge.
Li Zhuyuan even suspected that the reason that the “Yin’s Expectation” quartet had found this place was likely to eliminate the threat posed to the people by this giant creature.
One could set sail during the Spring and Autumn period; after setting out to sea, returning southwest, manipulating and dominating a small nation to fulfill one's whims.
Should such a figure not have become a corpse, he wouldn’t need to confine himself here—under normal circumstances, his name and legacy might have been written in history.
At this moment, the masked man’s chest heaved, his hands gripping the armchair as though he wished to stand but was too weak—so weak that even as a corpse, he couldn’t manage to remain upright.
It was no wonder he hadn’t attacked himself but instead called for the henchmen at the door through shadow walking.
Seeing him struggling, Runsheng swung down with his shovel to strike his chest.
“Bang!”
His chest was fragile, caving in immediately.
The impact startled Runsheng; this was the first time he had encountered such a frail corpse.
Still, without hesitation, he delivered another blow to the masked man's head.
“Bang!”
The mask flew off, and the head burst apart like a bitter melon.
Why a bitter melon instead of a watermelon? Because beneath the clothing, his body was thin, like a shriveled corpse.
As a corpse, not maintaining moisture proved he was completely depleted.
At this point, he was thoroughly silenced.
“Here! There's a carved stone ladder here for us to climb up,” Xue Liangliang had already reached behind the chair, where a round platform Readily offered an ascent.
“Move!” Runsheng shouted.
At this moment, Li Zhuyuan was being carried by Tan Wenbin, who deliberately approached the decapitated masked man’s body and began to search his clothes.
Tan Wenbin trembled with fear; after all, even a dead corpse in such a strange setting was daunting, let alone one without a head.
Yet, Tan Wenbin braved through, feeling his way and soon finding a bell. “Xiaoyuan, how about this?”
“Mm.”
The boy understood that Tan Wenbin was striving to find his role within the team; regardless of the fear and discomfort, he was adding value.
After a thorough search, near the waistline, Tan Wenbin extracted a handful of black pulp, resembling rotting straw.
“Crap, it won’t be excrement, will it?”
Just as he prepared to shake it off, Li Zhuyuan abruptly brightened, “Hold onto it, Zhuangzhuang!”
“Ah?”
Unclear about the reason, Tan Wenbin didn’t hesitate to stash it even if it was “excrement.”
That wasn’t just garbage… Li Zhuyuan perceived, recognizing that it was a decayed bamboo slip.
What kind of secrets could have been recorded on the slip that the masked man took with him everywhere?
The value of this secret far exceeded the bell’s worth by countless times.
Moreover, rotten bamboo slips could be repaired to extract any writing—this was something Li Lan used to specialize in.
“Binbin, quick, let’s move!”
“Coming!”
Tan Wenbin didn’t linger any longer, carrying Li Zhuyuan toward the round arch and ascending the ladder.
The ascent was rather steep, with Xue Liangliang leading, followed by Tan Wenbin, while Runsheng offered support from below.
Everyone fully grasped that freedom lurked above, fueling them with immense vitality as they ascended desperately.
As they climbed, Xue Liangliang noticed movement ahead, the entire upward passage began to tremble as if something aimed to burst forth from within.
“Climb! It’s coming!”
Yelling this, Xue Liangliang pushed upwards, with the others quickly following.
Once the four had ascended a good distance, the sidewall where they once passed was smashed in, and a huge elongated body burst through but didn’t pursue them; it descended instead.
Because Li Zhuyuan was being carried, he could look down continuously, counting the length of that massive body, marveling… it was truly long.
Suddenly, a booming noise emerged from below as it entered the underground palace, causing a cascade of collapses—this chain reaction felt akin to a small earthquake as ominous dust shot upward, enveloping the four.
Fortunately, the distance to the surface wasn’t far; everyone gathered their last reserves of strength and finally crawled out through an inconspicuous rock crevice.
They all collapsed on the ground, gazing at the sky, breathing in the fresh air and observing the sun and blue sky, “We finally made it out…”
(End of Chapter)