Ancient tomb excavation traces

Although I couldn't see clearly in the dim light, I've been through a lot of dangerous things, which has increased my sensitivity to the outside world, so I'm sure that what flashed by just now was something wrong.

Just as I stopped, the rustling sound of leaves rubbing together rang out again, the sound was very close at hand, and it was fast and frequent.

Everyone looked around, and Bao Cai exclaimed in terror, "It's over, they're here..." As he spoke, he and Ba Jian ran forward as if they had seen a ghost.

The young Taoist priest told me not to stop and to keep going. At that moment, everyone was immersed in an atmosphere of fear, which was contagious and made me run a little crazy. However, our speed slowed down as our strength was depleted. I even felt powerless and tripped several times, but thankfully the young Taoist priest turned around and helped me up.

The young Taoist priest said that what was chasing us were probably those things that had just hatched from their eggs, because he could clearly feel his energy being constantly drained from his body. As he spoke, some liquid suddenly dripped onto my face. The liquid had a fishy stench and was slightly warm. It seemed familiar. Upon closer reflection, it felt the same as the liquid that had sprayed from the mouth of the round-bellied female corpse earlier.

I stopped, wiping my face with my sleeve in fear. The young Taoist priest watched me warily, as if signaling me to prepare. I understood and nodded hastily. Just then, a white shadow leaped down from the treetops above, accompanied by a mournful screech. Although I was somewhat prepared, the thing came too fast, and my mind went blank. In the nick of time, the young Taoist priest swiftly drew his peach wood sword and thrust it upwards. The creature cried out in pain, fell to the ground, and then, like a nimble squirrel, darted into the darkness.

I saw thick liquid dripping from the young Taoist's peach wood sword; clearly, the thing was injured. It lurked in the darkness behind us, howling venomously. Its cries were quickly answered; from the other side of the tree, one baby-like cry after another rose up, a sound like the echoing wails of a child in a hospital corridor at midnight—empty and eerie.

The young Taoist priest gripped his sword, his eyes scanning his surroundings. In the dim light, countless dark shadows darted about. They resembled monkeys, but were rounder. In the fleeting moment they passed by, I noticed that the strange infant had pale, wrinkled skin, as if the skin could be easily peeled off with a gentle touch of a knife.

Qiuyue, who was ahead of us, called out anxiously, "Stop dawdling, let's go!"

However, it was too late. Several pale bodies crawled down from the massive tree trunks like spiders, their bodies completely naked, their slimy fluids gleaming. There was a gap in the dense canopy, letting in the cold, desolate light, which made the creatures' skin appear even more lifeless.

Their heads were larger than their bodies, with protruding backs of their heads, reminding me of Piccolo Daimaō from Dragon Ball. The young Taoist priest watched them slowly wriggle down, then carefully pulled me aside and whispered to Qiu Yue, "Miss Qiu, prepare your hidden weapons."

As soon as he finished speaking, he pulled me back sharply. I lost my balance and stumbled. After regaining my footing, we both ran for our lives toward Qiuyue's location. At the same time, those damned monsters crawling on the tree trunks suddenly raised their heads and cried out, their cries filled with murderous intent.

Bao Cai and Ba Jian huddled behind Qiu Yue, watching the strange infants chase after them like arrows released from a bow. Unable to hold on any longer, they turned and ran.

To be honest, I've seen Bajian run fast, but it's truly rare to see Baocai so fast that he can keep up with Bajian.

When the young Taoist priest and I arrived at Qiuyue's side, Qiuyue let out a delicate shout and unleashed all the hidden weapons she had prepared. Her hidden weapons were small in size, but they were all extremely powerful, like small steel balls. If hit accurately, they could take the life of the opponent.

The three strange infants at the forefront were hit in the head by Qiuyue's jujube nails and fell to the ground with a whoosh. However, they were still wriggling and did not seem to be dead. What was terrifying was that they soon rose up again in a strange way.

Seeing this, Qiu Yue gasped and said, "Run!" With that, she shot out several more jujube nails, which hit the monstrous infants' kneecaps, forcing them to crawl on the ground.

The three of us caught up with Bao Cai and Ba Jian, who were already drenched in sweat, with wisps of heat rising from their heads. The little fire monkey was being shaken so badly by Bao Cai that it was almost dizzy. Meanwhile, those deadly monster infants were hot on our heels, their roars echoing from behind us to the giant tree at the top. These things were incredibly fast; the dense canopy was an even faster shortcut for them, allowing them to move freely up the tree like arboreal animals.

This kind of aimless, frantic escape maximizes inner fear. No one thinks about how to run. Just like when Qiuyue and Baocai encountered the corpse plate last time, they panicked and ran into the thorn bushes without hesitation, ultimately falling from the top of the stream. Luckily, they survived; otherwise, their bodies would probably still be soaking in the stream.

Thinking about it, I bit my lip and shouted, "Is the sound of the bell coming from this route?" In fact, I remembered that the sound of the bell came from our right-hand side, definitely not from where we were running now.

"Who cares about the road now? We have to escape...escaping is the priority!" Bao Cai said beside me, wiping his sweat, without stopping.

I didn't feel anything until I started talking, and then I realized that my physical strength had reached its limit. At this moment, my leg muscles were already overwhelmed. If I continued to run in this place full of tree roots, I would probably not be killed by the monster baby, but would die suddenly.

As I ran, I coughed a few times, feeling unwell. The young Taoist priest said, "Brother Feng is right. The situation was critical earlier, and we strayed from our original direction. In this environment, the strange infants have an advantage over us. They can track us without even looking at us, just by the aura emanating from our bodies."

I responded with a sound of agreement, and then said to Bajian, "Bajian, your hearing... your hearing is the best. Do you remember the exact direction of that ringing sound?"

Xiao Ba said, "When I was captured, I heard the bell ringing in that tree countless times, so I remember it."

I said breathlessly, "Then...then you go ahead, and we...we'll follow you! We'll meet up with the Master first, then find a place to take refuge!"

Xiao Ba said, "Okay!" With that, he deviated from the current route and entered a narrow path full of obstacles. We followed him for a while, and then we heard a rustling sound from the trees. The strange infants chased after us like lightning. They aimed at our bodies and pounced straight down.

Because we were moving at high speed, some of the strange infants, after falling, missed us and crashed directly onto the thick tree roots. They were about the size of ordinary infants and should have been lighter, but these things weren't real infants; their bodies seemed heavier than normal children, and upon impact, their skulls cracked open. However, even with their skulls split open, these things weren't dead. They staggered to their feet and relentlessly pursued us, a truly horrifying sight. (To be continued.)

I like tomb raiding.