Evil Spirits Carrying A Coffin

Chapter Nineteen Black Ants

After tremendous effort, we finally reached the cave entrance, only to discover that it had somehow been blocked. It was unclear what was sealing it shut. We tried pushing the rock for a while, but it was far too heavy to move.

Hammer cursed loudly. “Damn it. Does anyone know what’s going on?”

“Enough,” my second grandfather said calmly. “It’s probably the two guarding the luggage who ran into trouble. Stop shouting.”

When my second grandfather spoke, it always carried weight. Even though Hammer was furious, he did not dare argue.

All our explosives had been left on the other side of the cave, so for the moment there was no way to deal with the boulder.

Just then, the flying head monsters finally caught up to us. As they were about to attack, a dark shadow suddenly appeared on the stone wall beside us. Almost instantly, a creaking sound echoed through the cave, as if something were gnawing through stone.

In only a few seconds, the shadow on the wall began to move. Before we could even react, a vast black torrent surged forward and rushed straight at the flying heads.

“Hurry!”

My second grandfather’s expression changed drastically. There was no time to explain. He immediately urged us to leave.

But now, aside from the blocked cave entrance, the only route left was the abyss we had seen earlier. That meant there was only one way out.

We ran back toward the square with Hammer and the others. The flying heads no longer bothered attacking us. They were already completely overwhelmed by the black tide that had engulfed them.

I glanced back and finally saw what that black torrent was. It was made up of countless creatures the size of ants, except they had wings and could fly.

Faced with this swarm, the flying heads were like mice before a cat. In an instant, they scattered and fled toward the palace they had come from. I did not dare linger to watch. The flying heads that were caught by the ants disappeared in mere seconds.

After finishing off the flying heads, some of the black ants surged toward us, as if preparing to attack. My second grandfather gestured to Lu Yifa. Lu Yifa quickly took out a signal flare, loaded it into the launcher, and fired it at the swarm.

Burnt fragments rained down, and the air filled with the sharp smell of scorched cotton.

Even so, the ants stubbornly pursued us. By this point, the entire square had descended into chaos. The only quiet place left was where the three bodies lay on the ground. I caught a glimpse of Professor Sun’s and that young man’s shriveled faces.

A flash of sorrow crossed Yuan Li’s face.

“Move. Quickly.”

We rushed on and soon reached the abyss. Hammer and Lu Yifa quickly tied their ropes together and secured them to a protruding rock. After testing it, Hammer went down first to scout the way.

Next, my second grandfather and Liuzi descended. When it was our turn, Yuan Li refused at first. She explained that she had never done anything like this before and could easily panic in midair.

After thinking for a moment, I took another length of rope and tied it around our waists together. That way, if anything happened, I could still hold her.

I watched as Yuan Li carefully lowered herself down the rope. I followed slowly, gripping the rope and descending after her. At the same time, Lu Yifa fired another signal flare upward, completely disrupting the ants’ formation. Only then did he hurry down after us.

The ants lingered at the edge of the abyss for a while before finally retreating. It seemed that in their eyes, we were far less important than the flying head monsters.

I had no idea how deep the abyss was. Each rope we carried was over twenty meters long, and now two of them had been tied together. Even so, after descending for three or four minutes, we still had not reached the bottom.

Another five minutes passed. Yuan Li was clearly struggling with each movement, utterly exhausted. By then, she had already descended more than twenty meters. I could not imagine how such an abyss had been formed.

Just as Yuan Li was about to give out, Hammer’s voice echoed up from below.

“We’ve reached the bottom. Come down quickly.”

Moments later, a sudden tug nearly wrenched my waist. Yuan Li could not hold on any longer, and her hands slipped. If not for the rope tied around us, she would have fallen straight down.

Soon after, the tension around my waist eased. I realized I had reached the ground. After steadying Yuan Li, I jumped down beside her. Not long after, Lu Yifa also landed.

“Damn, I’m exhausted,” he said, sitting down without any concern for appearances and gasping for air.

I was exhausted too, but unlike him, I still cared about my image. Yuan Li was right beside me.

He took out the last bit of food from his backpack and handed it to Yuan Li. She took a few bites, then stopped. Professor Sun’s death had clearly shaken her deeply.

My second grandfather, Hammer, and the others also took out food. After a brief rest, Liuzi began surveying the surroundings. He soon discovered that the bottom of the abyss was not entirely natural as we had imagined.

There were clear signs of artificial construction.

It was hard to imagine that such a massive project could have been completed by that ancient people. A nation worshipping gods in the mountains, could they really have accomplished something like this?

The surrounding walls were still neatly cut stone. Ahead was something like a passageway, pitch black, with nothing visible inside.

There was nothing carved on the stone walls. Someone glanced at their watch. It was already past midnight. After everything we had been through, everyone was utterly exhausted. We each found a place to sit, wrapped ourselves up, and rested.

Yuan Li leaned against me. The faint warmth and scent stirred thoughts I should not have had, but I had no energy to dwell on them. Sleep quickly overtook me.

When I woke up, my mouth felt stifled, as if something had been pressing against it all night, giving me strange dreams. Opening my eyes, I saw Lu Yifa and Uncle Hammer smiling at me, while my second grandfather wore a peculiar expression I could not quite read.

Looking down, I realized that Yuan Li was fast asleep in my arms. No wonder I had felt so uncomfortable. I sighed helplessly and stayed still, letting her continue to sleep.