Chapter 157: Weren’t We Supposed To Have Nothing To Do With Miao Jiang?
Lao Yang heard this and was dumbfounded: “What you’re saying, is that even human? The old Hei Bei Lao Liu couldn’t do that either, right?”
Hei Bei Lao Liu? This name sounded a bit familiar, where had he heard it? Wu Xie thought for a moment, but couldn’t recall the source of this name from his memory. But from the name, it sounded like someone who was very good at fighting? Could it be someone Lao Yang encountered on the path, so since they were in the same line of work, he had heard of him too?
So he mumbled: “Is that so?”
Lao Yang didn’t pay attention to his response and was still immersed in Wu Xie’s description. If Wu Xie wasn’t exaggerating, then Lin Yan’s strength might not match that of the overlord Xiang Yu, but it wasn’t far off? Lin Yan’s skinny little frame didn’t look like it! With this kind of strength plus his little zombie that could collect pets, as long as he wasn’t particularly dim-witted, tomb raiding wouldn’t be a sweep?
If this wasn’t possibly his last time going underground, he definitely would have pulled this guy along!
Master Liang climbed just over ten meters and couldn’t go on, no matter how the two above pulled, he clung to the branch and wouldn’t budge: “W-wait a bit, let me rest, I can’t, I can’t, no strength left.”
Wu Xie looked down at Master Liang and saw his face really didn’t look good, covered in sweat head to face, probably dehydrated again. But the water they had wasn’t unlimited, they needed to save some for later, right? What if they got trapped here for another one or two days? No, wait, someone still had water!
Wu Xie looked up toward the already blurry flashlight light: “Uncle Tai, Uncle Tai! Do you still have water on you?”
But after calling twice, Uncle Tai didn’t respond, that little dot representing him moved steadily upward and away. Lao Yang frowned: “He isn’t pretending not to hear on purpose, is he?”
Wu Xie couldn’t figure out what this old guy was thinking, but it was good to have someone go up to scout the way, this stuck in-between spot really wasn’t safe either.
He looked at Master Liang, a bit troubled. Although there were no signs right now that there was anything on this tree, who could say for sure? He didn’t believe those people strung up on the tree had all accidentally slipped and fallen. But Master Liang really looked like he couldn’t go on, they couldn’t just really leave him here, could they?
The firelight swayed downward, and something small seemed to flash by in front of his eyes. Hmm? Wu Xie rubbed his eyes, but saw that the surrounding branches hadn’t changed in shape or position. Feeling a bit dizzy, he thought to himself: Could it be dehydration from the intense heat making him start to hallucinate? Calculating the position, once they went up, the terrain would probably be higher than the underground dark river below, maybe they could find a water source if they looked, so he stopped worrying about it.
He glanced at Lao Yang, who pursed his lips at him, tilted his head toward Master Liang, meaning if it didn’t work, just leave him here to climb slowly by himself, they two could go up first. After all, climbing the tree already consumed a lot of energy, and there were still fifty or sixty meters above, dragging another person, they probably wouldn’t make it without a few lives.
Master Liang probably knew what they were thinking too, after all, there were only three people here right now, and he knew himself he was a burden, unless after going up they reached a place Lao Yang hadn’t been to before, otherwise even if he knew the entire layout of the ancient tomb, it wouldn’t mean much to them.
After panting a couple breaths, he said weakly: “Wait for me to rest two minutes, just need to catch my breath!”
Since he said that, Lao Yang naturally couldn’t say anything more. He knew Wu Xie would definitely wait for Master Liang, just two minutes, it really wasn’t much. Sure enough, not long after, Master Liang started climbing upward again with gritted teeth, so the group began moving upward again.
As Master Liang climbed, he felt his foot itch a bit. He found it strange, normally after climbing for a while his legs would go numb, how could it still itch? Could it be scraped by rust on the bronze tree?
Unfortunately, he didn’t have a flashlight here, all the light came from the torch Lao Yang held at the top, he looked down but couldn’t see clearly what it was, so he didn’t pay attention. But what happened next exceeded his imagination.
Suddenly, a gust of wind from who-knows-where extinguished the torch, and after Wu Xie and Lao Yang quickly turned on their flashlights, they heard a rustling sound.
To be honest, hearing this sound now gave Master Liang a heart attack, he couldn’t help but think of that huge group of rats before.
Lao Yang listened: “Seems like something is crawling on the tree?”
Master Liang’s face changed, if before it was just pale, now it was pale with a greenish tinge, just like a dead person: “There aren’t more rats, are there?”
The sound seemed to come from behind, he suddenly felt his hands and feet not sore, his back full of strength, and whoosh whoosh whoosh he scrambled past the still dazed Wu Xie. After feeling the rope around his waist pulling him, he hurriedly turned back and shouted at Wu Xie: “What are you standing there for? Run! Aren’t you afraid it’s another nest of big rats?”
Wu Xie watched his figure, a bit stunned, hurriedly reached out to grab his foot, provoking Master Liang’s frightened voice: “What are you doing? Why pull me? Climb up!”
Wu Xie saw Master Liang struggle twice and nearly fall himself down, quickly shouted: “Your foot! There’s something on your foot!”
As he spoke, that sound like little claws scratching the tree got closer, Wu Xie heard from the sound there were quite a few, turned back and shone the flashlight—good grief, although not a nest of big rats, this really wasn’t sea monkey’s close relative: mountain monkey?
He originally thought sea monkey was ugly enough, didn’t expect this thing to be even uglier!
He saw that monkey-like thing had a face fully comparable to Fatty wearing a clay can headgear, hands and feet firmly clinging to the bronze tree, face like a stone carving with eerie eyes, the arc of its mouth seemed to be smiling!
Seeing him shine the flashlight over, that thing shrank back a bit, as if very afraid of light, but after it retreated, more of these things emerged from below, blocking their retreat completely.
Master Liang there had forgotten to struggle, even couldn’t feel something climbing up along his foot, whole body firmly clinging to the bronze tree not daring to move: “It isn’t these things that threw everyone down, is it? What do we do?”
Wu Xie gritted his teeth, a fierce streak ignited: “We definitely can’t outclimb these things on this tree, but we can’t wait here to die either!”
He observed the terrain, gestured for Master Liang and Lao Yang to climb with him onto one of the thicker branches: “This thing can bear weight, opposite is the stone wall, easy to defend hard to attack, when they come up one we can take one down! I saw this thing, numbers aren’t that many, three people should handle it!”
Master Liang was scared silly, where would he know anything about Zi Chou Yin Mao? Whatever Wu Xie said, he did, after Wu Xie casually brushed off the little thing on his foot, he crawled there like a twisted centipede super fast, not at all like someone already dehydrated and exhausted, even pulling Wu Xie into a stumble nearly falling.
Lao Yang threw away the torch and pulled out his gun, exchanged a glance with Wu Xie, both knew they had to fight desperately now.
At this moment, he couldn’t help but think of Lin Yan, thinking if only Lin Yan were here right now. His little white zombie was the nemesis of most things underground, maybe it would have a special effect on these “mountain monkeys” too. Unfortunately.
Just as this thought finished, a body fell in front of them, smashing down a grinning mountain monkey, but itself got strung on the branches below.
This… what thing?
The whole space went silent, at first no one reacted, after the flashlight shone on it.
“Un-Uncle Tai?” Master Liang’s trembling voice broke the silence, quick-thinking Wu Xie immediately felt the situation more dire. The reason Uncle Tai above them fell was probably just one: danger above too!
Alright, now truly stuck in between, no way up no way down, really no road to heaven no door into earth. Didn’t know what danger was above, if it was also these mountain monkeys, but Uncle Tai wouldn’t have failed to notice danger, right? How was there no movement at all?
Because Uncle Tai falling smashed one mountain monkey down, the other mountain monkeys, maybe scared, actively retreated a bit, leaving a large empty space in the middle of their encirclement. Taking this chance Wu Xie counted, these things only about a dozen, if they tried hard, he and Lao Yang should manage?
Just as the standoff held, he and Lao Yang looked at each other wanting to discuss tactics, a strange thing crawled out from below Uncle Tai’s body. Master Liang saw it and froze: “Look, isn’t that the insect from my foot just now?”
Wu Xie looked closely, indeed. That insect seemed to have unknown stone pieces on it, seeming… similar to those on the mountain monkey’s face? Just as he found it strange, that insect seemed smashed dead, didn’t crawl two steps and stopped. But under their horrified gazes, a group crawled up from below the mountain monkey… masks.
Yes, masks, Wu Xie could tell at a glance they were identical to the mountain monkey’s face. Could it be these mountain monkeys were just monkeys, but wearing masks on their faces?
Under their gaze, one mask slowly crawled onto Uncle Tai’s face, then amid sounds of flesh and blood being swallowed, the mask was worn on top.
And that’s it? Don’t know why, Wu Xie had an ominous premonition, he always felt this was the prelude to some big movement. While these mountain monkeys were still motionless, like performing some evil cult ritual, he lightly nudged Master Liang and Lao Yang, signaling them to quietly climb up first.
A fierce glint flashed in Lao Yang’s eyes, he asked lowly: “We don’t kill these first then go? See they all aren’t moving, isn’t it one shot each?”
Wu Xie smacked the back of his head: “They ignore us, do we have to rush up to provoke? Hurry up and go first! Isn’t this tree the monkeys’ turf? Stuck here in between, if we accidentally fall, aren’t we just delivering ourselves? You want to end up like Uncle Tai?”
Strung like candied hawthorns then masked? Lao Yang shivered, he chickened out.
Master Liang didn’t even need Wu Xie to say, on his own trembling hands and feet started climbing up silently, didn’t know where this strength came from.
Wu Xie finally glanced at the mountain monkeys below circling Uncle Tai’s corpse, also turned upward. As he turned, the nearby few mountain monkeys turned their heads to look at him, paired with those smiling-not-smiling masks, indescribably eerie.
While climbing up Wu Xie wondered, what were those masks, what was that insect? Uncle Tai should no longer be affected by the bronze tree’s hallucinations, with his veteran tomb raider strength, how was he taken out without a sound?
He could tell Uncle Tai had died above and then fallen, if he died from falling, just over ten meters height, he would have struggled some, right? Not head-first.
But the fact was, after Uncle Tai fell, though pierced through the abdomen by bronze tree branch, he didn’t make a sound, too strange. Could it be that little insect’s doing? Thinking of the insect that crawled on Master Liang’s foot before, he felt all his hairs stand up, hurriedly looked at his back and feet.
Good, nothing there.
Thinking of the identical masks now on Uncle Tai and that mountain monkey’s face, he had a vague guess. These mountain monkeys might be like sea monkeys, people in life! And the mask on the mountain monkey’s face, no, probably the insect inside the mask, was likely the culprit that turned them like this!
Thinking this way, he felt suddenly enlightened, thinking of those cloth-like pieces on the mountain monkey that the flashlight accidentally shone on, now understandable too.
These masks might be picky about people too, otherwise why some became sea monkeys after wearing the mask, others just dried corpses hanging on bronze tree branches? Just didn’t know what the mask’s criteria were, if they could know the conditions, as long as they avoided that eerie insect in the mask, could they smoothly go up?
Wondered if Lin Yan encountered these things?
Just thinking this, he saw at the height where probably Uncle Tai fell, a familiar figure… wasn’t this that little brother beside the rat king?
Wu Xie sucked in cold air, this familiar figure he absolutely wouldn’t mistake, the burned spot on that little brother was identical! But good news was this thing had no mask on, probably wouldn’t turn into mountain rat to chase them too.
No time to observe this little thing more, these few minutes though no movement behind, but Wu Xie felt like thorns on his back, as if something was observing them. Wouldn’t be the mountain monkeys below still scheming, right? Thinking this, they climbed faster.
Lao Yang also saw that rat corpse, a bit curious: “Wu Xie, how did this rat die here? I see its face is all gnawed rotten!”
Wu Xie hadn’t noticed its face, all his attention on climbing up, absentmindedly replied: “How would I know? Maybe that insect in the mask did it, I saw when the mask went on, it seemed to drill into Uncle Tai’s mouth and gnaw.”
Speaking of this, he felt chills all over, he really didn’t want to die like that, he’d rather smash headfirst to death!
Master Liang was stunned, two seconds later, his climbing speed faster: “I know what that is now! That’s Chi Gu!”
Damn, didn’t they say this place had nothing to do with Miao Jiang? Bringing in a gu, what for? This tomb how like a skewer, everything’s here?
