One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

The cave entrance swallowed the light faster than expected. After descending less than ten meters, the sliver of daylight at the entrance behind us was completely swallowed by the winding rock passage and thick darkness, leaving only the flickering, pale beams of light from the flashlights cutting through the rough, water-stained, and strangely dark red moss-covered rock walls. The air suddenly became cold and stagnant, carrying a pungent stench of aged dust, damp rocks, and a thick stench of blood, along with a bone-deep, blasphemous, and malevolent aura identical to that of the "Nammu Cave" and the Yaoxing Society's base. Only this aura was more ancient, more profound, as if it had been settling and fermenting here for countless years, forming an almost tangible, suffocating "field."

Beneath my feet lay a slippery, uneven surface of natural rock, mixed with gravel, bone fragments (some of which were clearly not human or any known animal), and a thick, dark red, fungal-like carpet of soft mud that made a "plop" sound when stepped on. Occasionally, a flashlight beam swept across the cave walls, revealing more traces of human excavation—neat niches, blurred fragments of murals, and metal components long since rusted and fused to the rock, all testifying to the solemnity and sanctity of this place. Now, however, the murals were inexplicably covered and distorted by filth; the "statues" enshrined in the niches had long since vanished or been smashed, leaving only their grotesque bases; and the metal components were twisted and deformed, like tentacles struggling in death.

"Nie Lingfeng..." Chen Duo's voice was exceptionally clear in the deathly silent passage, trembling slightly. Her small hands gripped the fabric of Nie Lingfeng's clothes tightly as she followed him step by step. "It's...so dark and smelly here. It smells even worse than outside. The paintings on those stones...it's so unpleasant to look at."

Nie Lingfeng could feel the slight tremor and coldness emanating from her fingertips. He slowed his pace, channeling more gentle Qilin power through their connected hands to help her resist the pervasive chill and malevolent aura. "Hmm, this place is deeply corrupted. Stay close to me, don't look at the murals, concentrate, watch your step and what's ahead."

His voice was steady, carrying a strange, soothing power. At the same time, he heightened his senses to the extreme. The rock walls here seemed to contain some special mineral that could interfere with and absorb mental perception. His range of perception was severely compressed, barely covering a radius of about fifteen meters; beyond that, it was all blurry. But even so, he could still "hear" some extremely faint yet unsettling sounds coming from deeper within the passage—a faint, dragging sound; the "drip-drop" of liquid falling; and… an even more ethereal, chilling mental echo, like countless people suppressing their pain and weeping in his ear.

The two cautiously advanced deeper into the rocky path, which was clearly the main passage. The path was not straight but meandered downwards, with varying slopes. The stench of blood and evil in the air grew stronger, and the dark red fungal carpet under the flashlight beam became thicker, almost sinking to the ankles underfoot. It was sticky, slippery, and emitted an even stronger, sweet, rotten stench.

After walking for about five minutes, the passage ahead forked. There were two narrower passages, one to the left and one to the right, while the main passage continued downwards. In the center of the fork, Nie Lingfeng's flashlight beam caught clearer images on the ground—several scattered bullet casings of the same type he had found outside the cave entrance; a larger pool of fresh blood, darker red in color, even slightly reflective; and… a series of messy, muddy footprints leading deeper into the main passage! Beside the footprints lay the remains of several thick, mutated tentacles, severed by a sharp weapon, slowly oozing a dark green viscous fluid—covered in scales and bone spurs!

Another battle broke out between those people here! And it looked quite fierce, with some people seriously injured! They chose to continue deeper into the main passage!

"This way." Without the slightest hesitation, Nie Lingfeng grabbed Chen Duo and quickly followed the footprints along the main passage. He had to find out the identity and purpose of that group of people, and get ahead of them, or at least keep up with them, to prevent them from doing anything irreversible.

After descending another few dozen meters, the passage began to widen, and finally, they arrived at a huge, breathtaking underground cavern.

The beam of the flashlight seemed so insignificant here, barely illuminating a small area ahead. But even so, the sight before them made Nie Lingfeng and Chen Duo hold their breath.

This is a nearly circular natural giant cave, tens of meters high and over a hundred meters in diameter. Countless strangely shaped, dark red stalagmites, like stalactites, hang from the cave ceiling. Some of these stalagmites have dark red, viscous liquid slowly dripping from their tips, falling into a huge, bottomless pool of blood in the center of the cave below—a pool that is also dark red and constantly bubbling! The blood pool exudes a nauseating, extremely strong stench of blood and evil, seemingly the core source of the entire altar's corruption! Floating on the surface of the pool are the unidentifiable, twisted remains of some creatures and broken bones.

The cave walls are not natural rock walls, but rather meticulously carved structures, resembling circular grandstands, filled with countless niches, reliefs, and intricate runes! However, most of these niches are now empty, or merely fragments of statue bases, and the reliefs are covered in filth and erosion. In the four cardinal directions (east, south, west, and north), there is a wide, arched passageway leading deeper into the cave, its entrance also adorned with ancient and majestic carvings, but now too shrouded in filth and decay.

Most strikingly, around the blood pool in the center of the cave, on the ground beneath the circular "stand," lay dozens of corpses clad in tattered, ancient-style armor, seemingly as old as the altar itself! No, perhaps they shouldn't be called "corpses," because at this moment, they were slowly, stiffly... moving!

These "things" had been dead for countless years, their flesh dried and clung tightly to their bones, their skin a deathly gray or dark green, many parts even revealing the stark white bones beneath. Yet, their tattered armor still faintly hinted at the former majesty of the "Guardians" guard. At this moment, streams of dark red, viscous, seemingly alive, foul blood were spreading from the central pool, like countless tiny blood vessels connecting and coiling around the joints, spines, and skulls of these ancient corpses! As the foul blood flowed in, these long-dead corpses began to emit a teeth-grinding "crackling" sound as their bones slowly and laboriously rose from the ground, two points of dark red soul fire, filled with pain, resentment, madness, and blasphemy, igniting in their empty eye sockets!

In their hands, they still gripped ancient weapons, rusted and chipped, yet still gleaming with an ominous chill—broken swords, tattered spears, bone axes, and even strangely shaped staffs inlaid with dark emeralds. With their "awakening," an even larger, more chaotic aura of evil, a mixture of death, resentment, and a forcibly twisted obsession of "guardianship," rose from these dozens of "corpse puppets," instantly filling the entire cave like a frigid tide!

Among these "awakening" corpse puppets, near the entrance to the arched passage on the north side, Nie Lingfeng's flashlight beam clearly captured the figures of several living people engaged in fierce combat!

It was the very group they were tracking!

There were four people in total. Three of them, dressed in camouflage combat uniforms, were well-equipped and moved with agility and strength. They were back-to-back, forming a triangular defensive formation. Their automatic weapons spat fire, blasting the attacking zombie puppets into pieces. However, unless their heads were completely smashed or their connection to the tainted blood "blood vessels" was severed, the zombie puppets could still struggle to their feet and continue their attack, even with severed limbs! Bullets struck their withered bodies and tattered armor with dull thuds, having limited effect. The third was a middle-aged man wearing a white lab coat and gold-rimmed glasses, with a pale face. He was hiding behind a burly man, tightly clutching a silver metal box. He looked like a researcher or a doctor. The box he was carrying was almost identical to the ones they had seen at the Yaoxing Society base and at Yanben!

They're from the "Council"! Or rather, they're the "Council's" action team and researchers! They really are here! And they seem to be trying to force their way through these awakened corpse puppets and into the arched passage on the north side!

One of the burly men, armed with a short assault rifle and sporting a gruesome scar on his face, was clearly the commander. While precisely firing at a zombie wielding a bone axe as it charged, he roared into the communicator (the signal was weak, apparently due to interference inside the cave): "Doctor! How much longer! There are more and more of these monstrosities! Team A, report back! Have you found the 'master node'?!"

The doctor in the white coat behind him replied in a trembling voice, "The energy readings show... the activity of the 'Source Blood Pool' is still increasing! These guardian corpse puppets were forcibly activated by the pool water! We must sever their connection to the pool water, or... destroy the pool! There's no response from Team A! Something might... might have happened!"

"Damn it!" Scarface cursed, unleashing a burst of bullets that blew the head off an approaching corpse puppet, splattering blood and bone fragments everywhere. "Plan B! Abandon Team A! We'll escort you and force our way into the North Passage! The 'Holy Relic' must be in the main chamber deep within the altar!"

"Captain! Something else is crawling out of the pool!" another team member exclaimed in horror, pointing to the blood pool. The surface of the pool churned, and several even larger, more fully armored, and more malevolent-looking corpse puppets, wielding rusted greatswords or spears, were slowly rising from the blood pool. Dark red soul fire burned fiercely in their empty eye sockets, locking onto them intently!

The situation is extremely critical! This group of "Council" members clearly underestimated the danger of the altar, got surrounded by the corpse puppets, and seem to have suffered considerable losses (Team A is out of contact). Now they are trying to break out by force.