Movie variety show soul travels between two worlds to become a rich man

Chapter 852 The Heavenly Ladder of the Insect Sea: Finally Seeing the Heavenly Palace
"You bitch!"

Wang Yueban, wielding a dagger, frantically stabbed at the centipede's enormous head in the burrow, while Pan Zi, having broken free of his restraints, pulled out a pistol and began frantically pulling the trigger at the centipede's head.

"Bang bang bang..."

With its magazine emptied, the giant centipede quickly released Panzi and escaped through the burrow under the combined barrage of fire from its knives and guns.

"Hahaha--"

The crowd gathered at the cave entrance and, hearing Wang Yueban and Pan Zi's loud laughter from inside, breathed a sigh of relief.

Soon, the two crawled out of the hole, and Wang Yueban's first words were...

"Sir, there are signs that this hole was dug by human hands—"

"It seems we've found the drainage ditch dug by the craftsmen who excavated the imperial tomb back then."

Gao Dongxu said with a smile, "Everyone, stay away from this cave entrance. Let's make do here for the night and go down into the cave tomorrow."

"it is good--"

The group first assigned two people to guard the cave entrance to prevent the giant centipede from attacking again, while the others cleared away the mummies, creating a large open space, and started a fire to cook.

Since they couldn't set up tents, everyone slept in their own sleeping bags, making that night the only peaceful night Gao Dongxu had experienced in a long time.

Everyone breathed a long sigh of relief, finally free from the eerie meowing of the cat.

The next morning, after everyone had breakfast and tidied up, Wu Xie and Fatty Wang led the way, with Gao Dongxu following third, his divine sense ready to protect Wu Xie at any moment. The group slid down into the cave one after another.

The tunnel was very crudely constructed. The rocks were uneven, making it slippery and difficult to sit on, and my buttocks ached from the rough handling.

Fortunately, they made it to the end of the cave without any real danger. The group touched their buttocks and squeezed onto a stone path slope to catch their breath and rest.

The narrow, ice-covered cave sloped downwards, becoming elongated and vertical at a bend below. Further in, the cave seemed to increase in height. The space appeared vast, but it was pitch black; even a powerful flashlight couldn't illuminate it all.

Gao Dongxu immediately arranged for people to throw glow sticks into the hole, hoping to illuminate more areas.

Around them, the group discovered numerous signs of human construction. On one side of the crevice, many simple steps had been carved out, leading upwards.

"Alright, everyone, keep going, watch your step, and be careful—" Gao Dongxu instructed, urging Wu Xie and Fatty Wang to move forward and let them choose entirely according to their instincts.

Following the simple steps and cliffs, they walked for more than four hours, winding their way upwards.

At the end of the steps lies perhaps the mysterious underground palace of the Heavenly Palace in the clouds.

After resting for a while, they couldn't contain their excitement any longer. So they set off again, but this time, the journey wasn't as smooth.

Everyone tied themselves together with climbing ropes, and then tried to stay close to the cliff face, stepping on the stone steps, and slowly made their way up. At first, the slight incline was manageable, but after climbing to a certain height, we had to do what rock climbers do. However, we had very little experience in rock climbing, and we had absolutely no experience at all. It was incredibly nerve-wracking.

Fortunately, everyone was very careful along the way, climbing up step by step, almost like walking a tightrope.

Soon, below was a pitch-black abyss, its height impossible to estimate; just looking at it made one's legs tremble and head spin.

Over the next few hours, they climbed higher and higher until they could no longer determine their location or direction, and everyone entered a state of complete bewilderment.

If Gao Dongxu hadn't stopped to let everyone rest, it seems no one would have suggested taking a break.

Okay, it's not that they don't want to rest, but the environment doesn't allow it. Imagine having one foot on a tiny rock and the other dangling in the air, with a sheer drop below. No matter how strong your heart is, you can't rest there.

After a short rest, the group continued their ascent. After some time, they heard the sound of water all around them. Shining their powerful flashlights on the cliff face, they discovered several springs and waterfalls of varying sizes flowing down the cliff.

Seeing the rising steam, it seems to be a hot spring. The hot spring water is flowing from somewhere, and the sound of the flowing water is very loud, which seems to indicate the activity of underground water veins.

"Boss, how about we climb over there and rest by the hot spring?"

Wang Yueban, who had reached second place, turned around breathlessly and smiled at Gao Dongxu, suggesting, "You should just give up on that idea. Take a good look around the hot spring before you speak—" Gao Dongxu said with a smile.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?" At this moment, Wang Yueban and Su Nan, who were already following behind Gao Dongxu, also took out a powerful flashlight and shone it on the rock walls around the hot spring.

I didn't look closely before and didn't notice anything, but now that I'm looking closely, I can't help but shudder.

On the rocks beside the hot spring, strange patterns were visible. Upon closer inspection, they turned out to be centipedes, each as thick as an arm, clinging to the surface. The centipedes were the same color as the volcanic rocks nearby, making them indistinguishable without careful observation.

Looking around, the hot spring was almost entirely covered with centipedes, all motionless, as if they were all dead.

Everyone fell silent. Fatty Wang swallowed hard, a bitter smile on his face, and said in a trembling voice, "Have we stumbled into a bug's nest?"

"Turn off your flashlights—" Gao Dongxu's unleashed spiritual senses, night vision, and exceptional hearing made him more aware of the terrible and dangerous situation around him than anyone else.

"Don't talk, don't look around, watch your step, let's move forward, we'll be safe after this section."

Gao Dongxu didn't dare tell everyone the truth, so he told them to turn off their flashlights and continue climbing up, still unaware of the facts.

Because almost all the surrounding cliffs were covered with countless tiny, eerie green lights, as numerous as the stars in the sky.

In this darkness, these billions of points of light are like magic, as if one were surrounded by a dazzling array of stars. The terror and magnificence are truly beyond words.

Gao Dongxu's lips twitched involuntarily. Even though he was highly skilled and daring, and not afraid of any mutated centipede, he still felt his hair stand on end and a chilling fear creep into his heart when faced with the countless centipedes.

There's no way around it, there are just too many of them. Any species that reaches a certain size becomes a great terror.

They quickened their pace, remaining silent as they swiftly passed through the hot spring area. When they felt a cold wind blowing against their faces, they all let out a long sigh of relief.

Although it was still dark around them, the cold wind meant they were getting closer to their destination.

Sure enough, Wu Xie, who was walking at the front, shone his flashlight and said in a trembling voice, "The crevice ends up ahead, and the stairs have reached the end of the crevice. If we go any further, it seems to be a large space, but it's too dark to see anything clearly."

"Climb over there—" Gao Dongxu knew they had arrived.

The finish line is a huge, protruding rock platform, just big enough for dozens of people to rest.

The group shone their powerful flashlights around, but they could only illuminate the surrounding area; the distance remained pitch black.

Gao Dongxu took out two guns loaded with flares from his spatial storage and, without saying a word, pulled the trigger into the endless darkness ahead.

"boom--"

"boom--"

Two flares were fired, and white orbs of light exploded, completely dispelling the endless darkness.

As the flare slowly descended, illuminating the entire space, everyone, including Gao Dongxu who was holding binoculars, seemed to be frozen in place, their faces filled with shock and disbelief. For a moment, it was as if time had been paused.

Illuminated by the flares, an enormous crater appeared before them, a vast basin, and their presence seemed like that of a few tiny ants, so insignificant as to be negligible.

This is the power and grandeur of nature; humankind is truly insignificant in its presence.

Of course, what truly shocked everyone was not the sheer size of the crater, but the magnificent complex of buildings standing within it—a massive, dark stone city whose entirety could not be seen.

The scale of the complex was, frankly, far beyond Gao Dongxu's imagination. Neither the golden models he had seen in movies and TV shows on Earth nor the underwater tombs could compare to what he was seeing before him.

It's so big, so magnificent!
The ancients... Gao Dongxu truly couldn't imagine the madness of the ancients.

"This scale is probably comparable to the Qin Emperor's Mausoleum..." Wang Yueban exclaimed, looking down at the complex of buildings.

"Don't joke around. Although it is indeed large in scale, compared to the Qin Emperor's Mausoleum, are you trying to make us laugh? These local tycoons who live in a remote corner have never seen anything like this before," Wang Kaixuan retorted irritably upon hearing Wang Yueban's words.

(End of this chapter)