This Taoist priest is so unprofessional!

The members of the Ksitigarbha organization were instantly thrown into chaos. Even the dozen or so well-trained assassins could not hide the horror on their faces.

They instinctively took a half step back, and their crossbows also instinctively changed direction, the arrowheads pointed firmly at the 'thing' crawling out of the sand.

The figure caught his breath, wiped his face with his hand, revealing a face covered in sand.

It's Brother Long!

He's not dead!

Everyone was stunned.

The bespectacled strategist's face turned deathly pale in an instant. His eyes, hidden behind his lenses, widened in shock, and his lips trembled, unable to utter a single word.

This is unbelievable!

Brother Long coughed up the last few mouthfuls of sand and shakily pushed himself up to stand.

His gaze passed over the dark crossbow bolts, like two poisoned knives, fixed firmly on Xiao Li's face.

In his eyes, there was relief at surviving a disaster, but even more so, there was overwhelming rage.

"The one surnamed Li!"

Brother Long's voice was hoarse, and every word seemed to be squeezed out of his throat.

"You treacherous, disloyal bastard!"

He took a step forward, and several members of the Jizang sect immediately aimed crossbow bolts at his head.

Brother Long, however, was completely unafraid. He pointed at the bespectacled strategist, grinned in a smile that was more like a grimace, his mouth full of sand mixed with blood and foam.

"How did you survive?"

The professor frowned deeply, waved his hand to stop his men from firing the crossbow bolts, and stared at Brother Long with a gloomy expression.

"I'm lucky to be alive; even the King of Hell won't take me!"

Brother Long ignored him completely and continued to stare intently at the bespectacled strategist.

"You think this is a dead end? Pah!" He spat a mouthful of black saliva onto the ground. "It's not deep down there, there's a fucking secret passage! It's a lifeline!"

His chest heaved violently, and his eyes were bloodshot.

"Laozi and Xiao Liu fell down and were swept into that tunnel by the sand! If they hadn't choked to death on the sand... Laozi..."

As he finished speaking, his voice choked with emotion, and this seemingly fierce bandit revealed a trace of grief.

This discovery, like a bolt of lightning, cleaved through the fog in everyone's minds.

This completely confirmed all of Zhang Chen's guesses.

This tomb wasn't killing people, it was selecting them!

Only those blinded by greed and stubbornly going their own way, or those who are unlucky, will truly die in the quicksand.

The professor's face turned extremely ugly.

He meticulously planned and thought he had all the intelligence, only to find that he had been misled from the very beginning.

He may just be another "stepping stone" being manipulated by this great tomb.

But he still refused to give up.

"Use ropes!" he ordered coldly. "Two men go down and investigate that secret passage!"

"yes!"

The two men immediately took the climbing ropes out of their backpacks, skillfully tied knots on the stone pillars at the entrance, and prepared to descend into the quicksand layer.

Zhang Chen smiled.

He took the opportunity to step forward, the stone bricks beneath his feet firmly planted as if they were rooted to the ground.

He said to the ashen-faced professor, "Now do you believe me?"

"The real secret of this tomb must lie in that secret passage. But the mechanisms inside will only be more bizarre and sinister than the ones we've encountered before."

Zhang Chen's gaze swept over the two Ksitigarbha members who were preparing to descend, and his tone turned icy.

"Without us, going in like this is no different from sending yourself to your deaths."

Just then, Brother Long made a move.

He ignored Xiao Li and walked straight to the side of the passage, to the edge of the cliff near Wang Xiaoer and Zhang Chen, and stood there.

This action has already made his stance clear.

He pointed at the professor and his group, almost squeezing out the words from between his teeth, and said to Wang Xiaoer and Zhang Chen.

"Master Wang! Master Zhang!"

He glanced down at the two magical stone bricks beneath their feet, his eyes filled with determination.

"If you can get me out of here alive, my life, Li Erlong's life, will be yours from now on!"

He suddenly raised his head, his eyes revealing murderous intent.

"These bastards, I'm not finished with them!"

The professor's eyes were so sinister they seemed to drip water.

He stared at Zhang Chen, then glanced at Brother Long, who was protecting them like a ferocious beast, and slowly spoke.

"Even if what you're saying is true, your lives are now in my hands."

A dozen or so crossbows were raised again, their cold arrowheads gleaming with the light of death.

Zhang Chen shook his head, showing no fear whatsoever.

"No."

He calmly met the professor's gaze.

"Our lives are in our own hands, and also in the hands of this tomb."

A mocking smile played on his lips as he pointed at the professor and everyone behind him.

"And your lives are in our hands."

This statement is extremely arrogant.

Yet it possesses an irrefutable persuasive power.

The people of Ksitigarbha all turned red in the face, but dared not make a move.

Because every wall around them could flip over in the next second.

The three people opposite seemed to be favored by this eerie ancient tomb.

silence.

A deathly silence.

The professor's chest rose and fell slightly; he was weighing his options, calculating.

Killing them would likely trap me here forever, or lead to the complete annihilation of my army in the next step.

Leaving them behind is like planting three bombs next to you that could explode at any time.

for a long time.

He finally made a decision.

The professor raised his hand and slowly flicked it backward.

The men carrying crossbows hesitated for a moment, but ultimately lowered their weapons.

"it is good."

The professor coldly uttered a single word.

I'll trust you this once.

He looked at Zhang Chen with no trust in his eyes, only naked exploitation and murderous intent.

"Let's go into that secret passage together. But I'm warning you, don't try anything funny, or else..."

"Boom—!"

Before he could finish speaking, a muffled, deafening roar suddenly came from all directions of the entire tomb!

The ground beneath my feet began to shake violently!

It wasn't just a single brick that flipped over; the entire space and the entire mountain were shaking!

"Snap! Snap!"

On the stone wall, huge bricks and stones began to peel off, cracking open like a spider web.

Large chunks of dust and gravel rained down from the dome overhead!

The tomb is about to collapse!

The violent shaking made everyone lose their balance.

The professor's expression changed drastically. He grabbed one of his subordinates to steady himself and shouted sternly, "What happened? Did you do this?"

His gaze was like a knife, slicing through Zhang Chen.

"Damn, you really think highly of us!"

Zhang Chen shouted amidst the shaking, his voice drowning out the roar of falling rocks.

"It's time!"

He pointed to the constantly cracking dome, his voice carrying an all-knowing understanding.

"The mechanism in this tomb definitely has a time limit! Once triggered, regardless of the intruder's choice, it will automatically destroy itself after a certain period of time!"

This cruel truth once again confirms the tomb owner's unpredictable and eccentric style.

He had no intention of letting anyone stay here for long.

This isn't a test, it's a cleanup after the screening!

"boom!"

A boulder the size of a millstone crashed down from above, landing right between the two members of the Ksitigarbha sect, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The people of Ksitigarbha were in complete chaos.

Their much-vaunted training and discipline proved incredibly fragile in the face of real danger.

"what!"

A scream.

Another subordinate was unable to dodge in time, and half of his body was hit by a falling brick, instantly turning into a mess of blood and flesh.

Another was tripped while running away and was immediately buried alive by several falling rocks, without even being able to make a sound.

Death was imminent.

"Get into the secret passage! Quickly!"

With a loud shout, Zhang Chen didn't hesitate any longer. He aimed at the quicksand vortex left by Brother Long when he climbed out and leaped into it.

He was like a pebble thrown into water, instantly swallowed up by the black quicksand.