Evil Spirits Carrying A Coffin

Chapter Twenty-Four Statements

After forcing myself to calm down, I realized that the most important thing at that moment was to stay rational and not panic. In an ancient tomb like this, anything could happen. Perhaps they had already noticed my disappearance and would find me soon.

The fluorescent stick still gave off a cold, faint glow. Nearby, a few other lights shimmered dimly. I stood there waiting for a while, yet no sound came from the direction of the eternal lamp.

Suddenly, with a sharp whoosh, a strange sound came from behind me. It felt like a gust of cold air rushing past my neck, as if someone had blown on me. Startled, I spun around.

There was nothing.

It seemed as if the chill had been nothing more than my imagination.

In a pitch black, silent space, oppressive darkness can easily drive a person to madness. After only a short time, I felt my thoughts beginning to spiral. I paced back and forth several times, and to release the mounting tension, I finally shouted into the darkness.

“Li Yuan, where are you?”

My voice echoed through the empty hall, unanswered. Just as I was about to call out again, I vaguely heard someone calling my name. The sound seemed to come from behind me.

I turned sharply.

At that instant, a massive black shadow crashed down toward me. There was a heavy impact, and my vision went dark.

While unconscious, I seemed to fall into countless dreams. One moment, I was inside the mural, watching a finely dressed middle aged man command an army against a terrifying creature. Another moment, an enormous eight legged snake lunged at me. I even dreamed of Huang Degui, cursed and transformed, staring at me with cold, lifeless eyes.

When I finally woke up, I had no idea how much time had passed.

Li Yuan was standing in front of me. When he saw my eyes open, his face lit up with relief.

“Xiaoyu, you’re finally awake.”

“What happened to me?” I asked, my head feeling heavy and dull.

As I spoke, I noticed the ugly old man and his group gathered not far away, seemingly deep in discussion.

“I don’t really know either,” Li Yuan said, worry etched across his face. “We were following behind that ugly old man, but suddenly you went crazy. You turned around and ran off in another direction. No matter how much I called you, you wouldn’t come back.”

I frowned, utterly confused. In my memory, I had been following the ugly old man the entire time. How could I have run in the opposite direction?

“Later,” Li Yuan continued, “the ugly old man led everyone to search for you. They found you unconscious behind an eternal lamp, and carried you here.”

My mind went blank.

I clearly remembered being far away from the eternal lamp. How had I ended up behind it? Had something else happened while I was unconscious?

My head throbbed, thoughts swirling uselessly. In the end, I gave up trying to understand. At that moment, the ugly old man walked over.

“You’re awake. If you are, eat something.”

He handed me some food. As soon as I took it, my stomach growled loudly. After everything we had been through, hunger finally caught up with me. Li Yuan was no better.

We quickly ate sausages and bread.

After eating, strength gradually returned to my body. I stood up slowly, though the wound on my head still throbbed faintly.

By the firelight, I looked around and realized we were in a side chamber. Judging from the furnishings, we were clearly not the first to enter this place.

“How did we get here?” I asked.

Li Yuan’s expression darkened slightly, as if recalling something unpleasant. After a few more bites of food, he began to recount what had happened while I was unconscious.

After finding me, the ugly old man had led everyone toward the area where they had previously heard the thumping sounds. Before long, that same heavy noise echoed throughout the hall again.

Soon, the source revealed itself.

Iron chains dragged across the ground, kicking up dust. The thing bound within them looked dried and distorted, its age impossible to tell. At the same time, similar sounds rose from all directions, as if many such creatures were rushing toward them.

The ugly old man’s expression changed drastically. Iron worm gu were terrifying. Anyone infected by them could be controlled again, transforming into a walking monstrosity.

No one knew who the tomb owner truly was, but being able to acquire so many iron worm gu from the Miao regions was astonishing. In ancient times, these things were worth their weight in gold, perfect tools for killing in silence.

Worse still, iron worm gu were extremely sensitive to warmth. In the cold tomb, the living bodies of the ugly old man and his men were like beacons.

The heavy footsteps drew closer.

The ugly old man immediately led everyone backward, trying to retreat to the passage they had come from. Yet no matter how long they ran, they could not find the way back.

His face grew grim.

Could it be that they had been affected by something without realizing it?

Normally, tomb mechanisms could be dealt with, especially by experienced hands. For seasoned tomb raiders, entering an ancient tomb was often routine. Yet many veterans died in places that seemed harmless.

The ugly old man had clearly marked their path earlier, ensuring a route of retreat. But now, the deeper they went into the main burial chamber, the fewer traces remained, until there were none at all.

The thudding footsteps behind them grew louder.

With no choice, the group ran forward desperately, searching for a place to hide, only to find themselves at a dead end.

“Damn it,” Li Yuan cursed.

The situation was critical. The iron chain bound monsters were already close. Several men drew their daggers and charged at the nearest ones, trying to hold them back.

But more and more of those creatures poured in. It was impossible to stop them with only a few people.

The men fought while retreating, barely holding on. Fortunately, the creatures were slow, allowing a brief stalemate.

Time dragged on, and the numbers only grew.

The ugly old man, who had been hiding in a corner, was nowhere to be seen. He seemed to be searching for something, waiting for the right moment.

Suddenly, a man screamed. He was ensnared by several of the creatures at once, his body swallowed by iron chains. Seeing this, others tried to rush forward to save him, but were blocked by the swarm.

Then, with a thunderous boom, something shifted.

A massive door that had been sealed for countless years suddenly burst open in the wall.

The ugly old man appeared and waved urgently at Li Yuan.

Li Yuan dragged my unconscious body through the doorway at once. The ugly old man and the remaining men followed closely, rushing inside. The door slammed shut behind them.

As for the men who had been pulled into the grasp of the iron worm controlled creatures, there was no way to save them anymore.