I, a cultivator, have ended up in the world of tomb raiding.

At this point, the mountain rocks overhead were getting lower and lower, almost touching their foreheads, forcing the group to hunch over as they moved forward.

The damp air around them grew increasingly heavy, making it difficult to breathe.

Moreover, the bluestone underfoot was covered with withered leaves and moss, making it wet and slippery, and one could easily slip and fall if one was not careful.

As the girl walked, her feet suddenly felt soft. She let out a soft exclamation and looked down to investigate, wondering, "What's that under there? It doesn't feel like moss. It's strange."

However, the space was low and narrow, and everyone was crammed together, so even with the lantern in hand, she could hardly bend down to shine the light on her feet.

Li Yue, already hampered by his long sword and bamboo basket, was made even more difficult to move by her squeezing him.

Seeing that Miss Hong insisted on seeing, he had no choice but to reach out and lift the lantern in her hand, raising it slightly:

"It's all feces down there, you'd better not look."

"Excrement?" The girl in red was taken aback, then her expression changed slightly, and she exclaimed in surprise, "Could it be that I've been stepping on all this stuff since I came in... No wonder it always smelled so strange!"

Her delicate brows furrowed, revealing a hint of disgust. She wanted to look but dared not, and could only press for an answer:

"What kind of animal's droppings are those?"

"bat."

"You can smell that too?" Red Girl looked up in surprise.

"...I could tell."

Hearing this, it's unclear what touched a nerve with Hong Guniang, but her curiosity was immediately piqued, and she looked down to take another look.

Li Yue, fearing she might bump into him when she bent over, gently tugged at the lantern in her hand, directing her gaze towards the rocky ceiling above:

"There are many dark black and yellowish patches on the rock, which are also stains formed by bat droppings and urine dripping and drying over the years."

The girl was taken aback when he stopped her twice, but then she realized what was going on.

The space was already small and cramped, and if she insisted on bending over, she would inevitably bump into Li Yue, or even fall into his arms.

Although she was a free spirit and didn't care about formalities, she didn't want to be so abrupt.

He immediately suppressed his curiosity and looked in the direction he pointed.

The top of the rock was covered with a layer of dark brown hard shell, fine and crumbly like coal ash, which was indeed dried bat droppings, and the sight of it was nauseating.

The three mountain-moving men and the bandit group from the Unloading Ridge also heard the conversation and looked up or down to observe.

Li Yue was speechless, and sighed inwardly: Now things are really messed up, there's dung everywhere I look.

He said, "This place is cold and damp, a perfect nest for bats. Further in, you can see eerie energy, and there may be evil spirits causing trouble. Please be careful."

These words immediately caused a stir in the group.

If they encounter the remains of a zombie, they still have nets to bind the corpse, black donkey hooves, and guns to deal with it.

However, the demons and ghosts were elusive and elusive, and none of them had any experience fighting them, so their morale was already low.

These men were mostly Xieling brothers who had been transferred from Changsheng Mountain just the day before. They had heard a little about the poisonous insects and six-winged centipedes they had encountered on their two previous trips to Ping Mountain.

Knowing that this demon had killed many of their brothers, how could they not be terrified upon hearing this?

Seeing their poor performance, Miss Hong raised her eyebrows and spoke sternly to comfort them:

"They're just some evil spirits, what's there to be afraid of! Our brothers from Changsheng Mountain have braved mountains of knives and seas of fire, how can we be easily frightened?"

"Stay alert, everyone, stay close to the group. If anything comes out, I'll hold it off for you!"

As he spoke, he pushed aside the people in front of him and moved to the front to become the trailblazer.

Upon hearing this, the bandits felt somewhat embarrassed, realizing they had been a bit too fussy earlier.

They immediately gripped their equipment tightly and continued to hunch over as they moved forward.

After walking several hundred steps, the road ahead suddenly opened up, and a pool of water lay before us.

It appears to have been formed by years of accumulated mountain rain, and the pool is so deep that its bottom cannot be seen.

The water surface is covered with duckweed, and ripples spread wherever water droplets fall. Long vines hang down into the water, swaying gently with the current.

Everyone was finally able to straighten up, twisting their necks and stretching their backs, letting out a long sigh of relief.

Partridge Whistle gazed at the surface of the pool, his expression slightly grave: "This place is secluded and locked away, and the water is deep and cold. If we want to go in, we'll probably have to climb over the vines."

The bandits from the Unloading Ridge Sect looked at each other, all feeling troubled.

Although they have some basic agility, it's unrealistic to expect them to learn how to grab vines like monkeys and cross over.

Red Girl remained calm and composed, and instructed the brothers of the Unloading Ridge Sect:

"Disassemble the centipede-shaped mountain ladder and piece it together with a net. The hollow bamboo tubes have great buoyancy, making them perfect for rafting across the water."

The brothers from the Unloading Ridge responded and quickly set up three simple bamboo rafts.

While waiting, everyone took off their shoes and washed the soles in the pool water.

Walking through bat guano, even though they deal with corpses and rotting flesh year-round, was still incredibly disgusting.

The two women, Hong Guniang and Hua Ling, wished they could just change their shoes.

Seeing their disgust, Li Yue thought to himself that the bottom of the pool might not be clean either, and washing the soles of their shoes was just for peace of mind.

A moment later, the group split into three rafts, paddled, and slowly made their way to the center of the pool.

Before they had gone halfway, Li Yue sensed a few faint wisps of yin energy drifting from the depths of the pool.

It is not thick, but extremely mixed.

[Negative energy detected in the surrounding area...]

[Yin energy concentration 18%, Yin spirit component 11%, Evil energy component 5%, Evil energy component 2%...]

Should it be consumed immediately?

Li Yue looked at the panel in front of him and felt a slight joy in his heart.

Yin spirits are the gathering of the most Yin energy in the world, and this underground pool is truly a treasure land for cultivation.

He immediately muttered the words "devour".

[In progress: 1%...2%...]

During the process of devouring, Li Yue suddenly heard a dense, rustling sound coming from the depths of darkness.

His hearing was so sharp that he could hear the slightest sounds from nearly ten feet away, so he could immediately detect any unusual noises.

Li Yue's eyes narrowed slightly. He waved his hand at the crowd and gave a soft "shh" to signal them to be quiet.

Seeing this, the girl in red immediately waved to her brothers behind her to stop paddling and be quiet.

She sat at the bow of the raft, listening intently. Not yet noticing anything unusual in the depths, she looked at Li Yue and asked him in lip-reading.

Li Yue pointed to the rock face above and whispered a word of advice:

"Quiet down, crawl slowly, don't look up, and hold the lights close to your chest."

His tone was calm, yet carried an undeniable force.

Although everyone was stunned for a moment, they subconsciously did as instructed.

Hong Guniang has exceptional eyesight; although she doesn't possess Chen Yulou's natural night vision, she can still vaguely see a blurry black shadow at the bottom of this pitch-black pool.

Connecting this to the large amount of bat droppings found on the road earlier, some speculations have emerged.

Her expression was serious. She held the lantern under her body with one hand, her fingertips already gripping three throwing knives, and she was on high alert.

Partridge Whistle's hearing was far superior to that of ordinary people. He recognized the sounds as the commotion of thousands of living creatures and immediately pressed Hua Ling down, bending over and lying on the raft.

Everyone bowed low, the lights were all extinguished, and the surroundings were instantly plunged into darkness, with only the soft sound of bamboo oars paddling the water remaining.

The rustling sounds from the rocky roof overhead were incessant.

The quieter it is, the clearer the sounds from above become.

The subtle sounds of bats scratching at rocks with their claws and flapping their wings were so numerous that it seemed as if the entire overhead was covered in shadows.

Everyone lay prone on the raft, not daring to move, with only the bamboo raft and the dark pool water in front of them.

Suddenly, a low shout came from behind, and for some reason, one of the Xieling brothers suddenly sat up.

The sound was particularly jarring in the deathly silence, and the echo swirled among the rock walls, amplifying several times over in an instant.

Li Yue knew something was wrong, but before he could react, a loud booming sound of wings suddenly erupted from above!

The thing on the rock face has been disturbed!