Evil Spirits Carrying A Coffin

Chapter Twenty: Escape Route

The ugly old man had not expected that in such a short time, everyone had already been affected by hallucinations. He did not even know what kind of substance it was, nor where it had come from. At first, he had completely overlooked this possibility.

Third Brother’s death could only be described as an accident, even to the ugly old man. And this was merely the very outer edge of the mountain. We had not even truly entered the tomb yet, and danger had already claimed a life.

Li Yuan and I exchanged a glance, feeling a trace of relief. Fortunately, the ugly old man had not sent us to scout ahead. If it had been us, we would probably have died even more miserably than Third Brother.

“Everyone put on gas masks.”

As he spoke, the doctorlike man took more than ten gas masks out of his backpack and handed one to each person. At the ugly old man’s signal, the doctor slowly stepped forward.

He pulled out a test tube, filled it halfway with water, then added something into it. Almost instantly, the liquid turned completely black, and countless tiny dots appeared inside.

“It devours,” the doctor said grimly. “This is the most vicious type of insect. Third Brother died unjustly.”

After saying this, he retreated and tossed the test tube onto the ground.

“I see,” the ugly old man said calmly. “Clean this up and move on.”

Without another word, he waved his hand. Several people stepped forward and poured something into the groundwater upstream. I did not know what it was, but soon black specks began surfacing in the water. The once clear groundwater turned cloudy, radiating an ominous chill.

“All right,” the doctor said after another test. “The water is now mildly alkaline. It’s neutralized.”

The ugly old man said nothing more. He took the lead and waded through the groundwater.

Seeing that nothing happened to him, Li Yuan and I followed carefully under the watchful eyes of the men around us. As for Huang Degui, he refused to move, insisting that he would not step into the water no matter what. In the end, a burly man simply picked him up and carried him across.

Watching this, I could only feel helpless. Huang Degui truly was something else.

After what felt like an endless walk, we finally reached a relatively flat area. Cracks ran across the surrounding walls, and marks from chisels and axes were clearly visible, suggesting repairs had once been made here.

The ugly old man studied the ground for a while, then straightened up.

“If I’m not mistaken, this should be the escape tunnel left by the workers who built the tomb. The materials used here are all leftovers.”

Hearing this, my thoughts stirred. If the workers’ escape route had been found, then the actual tomb should not be far away. The only uncertainty was what lay inside.

We continued forward, and suddenly an enormous open space appeared ahead, like the interior of a hollowed mountain. The scene was eerie. The surrounding walls were uneven and scarred, as if something had repeatedly smashed and gouged them.

Several men raised their fluorescent lights, illuminating the ugly old man’s face as he examined the marks. He paced back and forth, his expression growing increasingly serious.

“These don’t look like marks left by humans,” he muttered.

He pondered for a moment, then his mind went to the stone infant. After a brief shake of his head, he dismissed it. No matter how powerful a stone infant was, it could not leave marks like these.

“Could it be an eight legged snake?” he said slowly.

The thought made sense. These traces could indeed have been left by an eight legged snake during a violent collision. But the marks also suggested struggle.

What kind of being could force an eight legged snake into such a desperate fight?

I noticed the scars on the walls as well, but they did not trouble me as much. What truly caught my attention was the pitch black opening behind the chamber.

After walking for so long, the true entrance to the ancient tomb should be close. The workers who built it would not have created an excessively long escape route. Although it had to be concealed, overly complex construction was dangerous. If discovered, everything would have been for nothing.

After a brief consideration, the ugly old man stopped dwelling on the wall marks and led the group toward the dark opening.

He paused briefly at the entrance. A few drops of something dark clung to the stone. If I was not mistaken, they must have been left by the stone infant. After all, it had been stabbed several times earlier.

Even if it had not been pierced through, it would have been injured.

Seeing this, the ugly old man became certain that he had found the right place. When a stone infant was created, its mother had to be killed as well. After being soaked and refined, the stone infant would always return to its mother’s resting place.

If injured, it would retreat there without exception.

The tomb owner would never place the stone infant’s mother outside the tomb.

We moved forward, and the passage grew narrower and narrower, to the point where one had to turn sideways to pass through. Progress slowed drastically. Li Yuan, Huang Degui, and I were pressed into the middle. Though each of us harbored our own thoughts, none of us dared voice them.

This stretch of path was even more exhausting than climbing the barren mountain. When we finally emerged, Li Yuan and I were gasping for breath. Huang Degui was even worse. After several deep breaths, he began looking around restlessly.

Though the surroundings were shrouded in darkness, the fluorescent lights revealed a roughly circular enclosed space. It was not large, and with so many people gathered inside, it felt crowded.

The ugly old man ignored us and continued searching. As someone from a tomb raiding family, I understood what he was doing. He was looking for the true entrance to the tomb.

The workers who built ancient tombs often hid secret passages within them, allowing escape at critical moments. Though technology at the time was primitive compared to today, their craftsmanship was astonishing.

Sure enough, the ugly old man soon found a protruding stone. He pressed it down.

With a deep rumble, part of the circular wall split open. A cold wind rushed out from the opening, sending chills through Li Yuan and me. Goosebumps rose all over our skin.

“You,” the ugly old man said suddenly, pointing at Huang Degui. “Go in first.”

At those words, Huang Degui’s face turned deathly pale. He staggered backward repeatedly, shaking his head in terror, clearly unwilling to step inside.