Chapter 54: Look, It’s A Sprite!
Fatty was still that Fatty, opening his mouth to spew fragrance, but in this oppressive environment where they didn’t know where they were, it was extremely easy to make people relax.
Fatty shook his head to fling off the water on it, stretched his body very uncomfortably: “How about it, did you discover anything while I was out? Have we already come in?”
Wu Xie, who had just looked around and come back: “You’re awake? Perfect, I have a little discovery here.” He stretched his finger to point at the other side of the darkness, and everyone’s gazes followed his finger: “There’s a stone door here. I looked around, there should only be this one path. I won’t mention the other visible things. If no objections, shall we head this way first?”
The entire side chamber was empty, except for a row of jars placed on the ground on both sides—there were a few blue-and-white ones, Lin Yan couldn’t recognize them either, but they looked too big to take anyway—and that well. With one sweep of the gaze, it was all in view. It was indeed as Wu Xie said, nothing special.
A Ning looked at the ground and frowned, pointing at some shoe prints that clearly didn’t belong to them: “These shoe prints shouldn’t be ours, right?”
The shoe prints she was pointing at were noticeably lighter, meaning this tomb chamber had been soaked in moisture year-round, so the water on the ground didn’t evaporate easily, allowing these shoe prints to remain.
Wu Xie was farther away and nodded after a rough observation: “They should be Third Uncle’s.” Then he turned and gestured: “Shall we go?”
“Wait.” It was still A Ning. She said to Wu Yong and the others: “Hold the guns, stay alert.” Her words were as certain as if there was something inside. Wu Xie had a thought, took out the black donkey hoof from his bag, and he and Lin Yan each held one—better to have it than not, right?
Lin Yan carefully looked at A Ning. She didn’t seem like someone who could foresee things. Being cautious was necessary, but no need to take out the guns before even leaving, right? Unless…
He lowered his head to look at those footprints and quickly spotted the most unusual row among them.
They looked like a child’s feet, not even wearing shoes.
No need to think—this was obviously a problem!
He followed those footprints with his gaze and saw the small footprints quickly veering away from the cluster of large ones, disappearing into the blue-and-white jar nearby. His heart sank. He quickly took a few steps to Wu Xie’s side, signaling everyone to quietly go around to the side, while shining the searchlight straight over—
Nothing.
He felt slightly relieved and signaled Wu Xie to hurry and open the door, so they could pass and lock whatever this unknown thing was inside.
Just as everyone was on edge, the porcelain jar actually shook by itself, emitting a crisp clinking sound!
“What thing is playing tricks!” Fatty shouted loudly, startling the people nearby. Wu Yong’s hand shook and he nearly pulled the trigger, but then there was no more movement.
Fatty and A Ning exchanged a glance, then both looked at Wu Xie, the meaning clear: Go up or not?
???
Wu Xie was dumbfounded. What the hell, they didn’t even know what it was, why ask him? He thought it over but couldn’t decide, so he looked at Lin Yan: Shall we… go up or not?
Lin Yan was numb. Why ask him about everything? If he remembered, he’d go, but he didn’t… remember? What if it really was a zombie? Zombies get more malevolent the smaller and older they are. What if a blood corpse jumped out? They were already on the verge of turning into zombies—why weren’t these people thinking of running fast! What use were the guns in their hands against this thing? Even the black donkey hoof might not work!
Lin Yan couldn’t help glaring at him: Waiting for what? Run quick! Not run and wait for it to come out?
Fatty saw them staring at each other with no decision and got impatient: “Alright, alright, you two acting all girly, not straightforward at all. Young comrade, you—” He pointed at Wu Yong: “Come with me. Whatever it is, shoot when you see it, blast it to death. Got it?”
Wu Yong glanced at A Ning. She gave him a nod, and only then did he follow Fatty, lightening their steps toward the porcelain jar.
Lin Yan panicked. Why let Fatty take action? Fatty was as unlucky as Wu Xie! Wu Xie triggered zombies, he triggered coffins or mechanisms! Letting Fatty go was pitting everyone. Plus, why provoke this thing? Wouldn’t normal people run fast and lock it behind the door? Why think of confronting it head-on? Was he the only normal one?
“Fatty, why are you going up?” He lowered his voice, afraid of alerting the thing in the porcelain jar: “Why insist on clashing head-on? What if it’s a zombie? Can’t we sneak away and lock it behind?”
Fatty didn’t turn his head: “Young comrade, you don’t get it. If it’s not a zombie, all good. If it is… since it made a sound, it was startled by us. Once awake, it won’t stay quiet, it’ll chase us to the ends of the earth. Besides, is this tomb door reliable? Don’t forget the black hair under the stone door could open it! How do you know it can’t open this door? Better to kill it now before it’s fully awake than let it chase us later and waste effort!”
This was damn reasonable! Lin Yan felt like he’d opened a new world’s door! But before thinking of killing it… couldn’t you first think if it might kill you!
But it was too late to stop now. Fatty’s gun was already poking the porcelain jar—
No movement, as if the thing that made the sound earlier had vanished.
Hm?
As Fatty poked a second and third time, the atmosphere gradually grew odd, because his action really resembled a kid cautiously lighting a firecracker, and with his plump body, it did have a bit of… childlike innocence?
How did serious tomb raiding turn into this style with Fatty?
This wasn’t right!
After poking several times with no movement inside, Fatty grew bolder. He had Wu Yong shine the searchlight inside, reached in, and pulled out an intricately carved box about an arm’s length. Confirming nothing else, he holstered his gun and walked back, face grim: “Turned out to be this thing. Looks like a burial item to me.”
He was about to open it when Wu Xie quickly stopped him: “Enough, it’s already tragic being buried so small. Don’t flip their coffin.”
Fatty thought about it: “Burial items probably aren’t anything good. So what do we do with this? Put it back?”
Before he finished, the crisp clinking of jars colliding sounded from behind him again. They turned and saw a little jar rolling toward them!
Everyone’s scalps tingled, guns raised. If the jar rolled a bit closer, they’d blast it to pieces! No idea what was inside the jar, it rolled sideways toward them. Just as it neared shooting range, it swerved, barely grazing past them and rolling into the passage.
This…
Now Lin Yan wasn’t sure. Was this not a zombie, but a guide NPC little elf? The kind that gives directions after you take the coffin?
