Ancient tomb excavation traces

Apart from the young Taoist priest and Lan Quexi, who had already climbed the tree, the remaining five of us were still at the rope. Having discovered that the rotting corpses dared not approach Princess Chu, Chu Ba assumed a fighting stance, his twin swords aimed at the corpses that surrounded us. Whenever they moved, he would turn around and present Princess Chu to them, which was unexpectedly funny.

However, while you can defend against what's in front, you can't defend against what's underground. The corpses that haven't yet broken through the soil are mixed in with the mud, and once they awaken, they keep popping up like groundhogs. After the corpses emerge from below, the muddy ground sinks in, and if you're not careful, your feet will sink in.

The ancestor told Chen Yu to go up first, but Chen Yu had a phobia of trees and acted recklessly for a while. The ancestor had no choice but to stand on the coffin and use his shoulder as a human cushion for him. Chu Ba glanced at the ancestor a few times and saw that his face was full of black lines. He had just been complaining that Chen Yu had broken several of his ribs, and now he probably didn't even have a shoulder blade left. The most important thing was that the dignified leader of the Tomb Raiders Sect had to condescend to bear such an unbearable burden. It was truly tragic.

I looked at the scene before me with a wry smile. The old ancestor complained, "You have such a big face and a greasy belly, really..." Before he could finish speaking, the lightning-struck wooden door of the back chamber was flung open with a bang, and a beam of light shone in.

Everyone froze for a moment. Bao Cai's face turned into one of extreme panic, as if he had seen a ghost. When he came to his senses, he shouted anxiously to Chen Yu, "Fatty Chen, hurry up! Old Monster Sima is here! Hurry!" He was so anxious that he used both his hands and feet, wishing he could climb onto the coffin and help his ancestor get Chen Yu up there.

Seeing Bao Cai's anxious state, I was infected by his anxiety, and my body stiffened involuntarily. Sima Yan, backlit and exuding a chillingly fierce aura, swept his terrifying red eyes over us, a cunning smile appearing on his lips.

He's in! The lightning-struck wood couldn't stop his malevolent aura at all. A fine layer of insect mist outside the wooden door formed a giant net, preventing them from getting in, but invisibly cutting off a path for us to escape in our panic.

Hands kept breaking through the ground, faster and more violently than before. The faces of the rotting corpses that had been surrounding us suddenly turned ferocious. I felt a chill. These guys seemed to have been infected by Sima Yan. They no longer cared about Mi Ling behind Chu Ba and began to make their move.

Upon seeing this, I shuddered and shouted, "Old Chen, hurry!" Looking at Sima Yan's evil smile, my heart tightened terribly, and I just wanted to get off the ground as soon as possible! Lan Quexi, perched on a branch, stretched out her hand, also looking at Chen Chen with great anxiety.

The old man supported him, and in fact, he wasn't far from the branch. It was just that he didn't feel safe around thin things, so he kept hesitating and repeating the same movement. Because I was nervous, I felt that he hadn't gone up an inch at all, and I was extremely anxious. It felt like an eternity had passed.

While urging Chen Tiao to hurry up, we kept an eye on Sima Yan and the rotting corpse's movements. Just when we were completely unable to concentrate, Bao Cai screamed as he was pulled down by the crater, his severed hand dragging a long way off. The incident happened so unexpectedly that I was startled. Coming to my senses, I quickly bent down and started hacking wildly with my red copper scimitar, managing to save Bao Cai.

Bao Cai was so frightened that his face contorted. After escaping, he crawled on the ground, groaning and whimpering, and could only barely stand up by holding onto the coffin.

The current situation can be described as "wolves in front, tigers behind, and rotting corpses to be unearthed below"! Chen Tan had never been so nervous before. He kept squeezing his legs together, and the sweat on his head even dripped onto my ear.

I noticed Sima Yan's gaze was fixed on Lan Quexi. I glanced up suspiciously and saw a shadowy figure at the other end of the giant tree trunk. It looked like a dark shadow drawn by the author in "Detective Conan" when the culprit was still unknown. It was a childhood nightmare for my sister and me.

We watched as the shadow silently emerged from behind the tree trunk, slowly approaching Lan Quexi... but Lan Quexi's attention was on us, and she didn't notice us at all! I shouted at her, but it was too late. She was grabbed by the dried corpse, her face pale with fright, and her hands were frantically grabbing at the air.

Chen Yi's eyes widened in shock. Realizing what was happening, he roared, grabbed the rope, gritted his teeth, and continued upwards. Blood instantly surfaced. I knew a large part of his slow speed was due to his injury, but he was a tough guy; he always kept quiet when injured, enduring the pain silently. I knew that just being able to climb the rope at this point was already quite an achievement.

Just when things were at a critical juncture, Sima Yan made a move. The patriarch solemnly said to us, "Go! I'll go and hold him off!"

When the ancestor usually has a serious expression, it means he has met his match. Chu Ba said, "Master, I'll go with you!" As he spoke, he was about to untie the rope binding Mi Ling.

The ancestor stared at Sima Yan, pressed down on Chu Ba's hand, and said, "You're carrying our protective talisman on your back. If I can't defeat this old monster, you take her and run away first! I promised this woman I would bury her with the musician, and I have to keep my word. We can't break our promise in a dead place; we'll suffer retribution!"

Upon hearing this, Chu Ba stopped what he was doing. I noticed a black aura emanating from Sima Yan's body, like an outline enveloping him and gradually approaching us. The Ancestor stretched out a hand and said, "Little rascal, the knife!"

I hesitated for a moment, then immediately put the bronze knife back in his hand. The old man handed the Mongolian knife back to me, glanced back at me, and said, "Go quickly!"

Having said that, he kicked off a tree trunk, using the momentum to leap into the air, somersault, and land directly on top of the two rotting corpses. The corpses reached out to grab him, but he flipped again, landing in front of Sima Yan, and raised his knife to strike!

Bao Cai swallowed hard, grabbed me, and said, "Young Master, judging from your ancestor's appearance, he was no ordinary person. Are you sure he didn't spring from a stone?"

In this tense moment, I didn't have time to joke with Bao Cai. At this moment, Chen Yi had already climbed up to save Lan Quexi, while Lan Quexi was still struggling with the dried corpse.

Although the branches of the Netherworld Tree were dense, there was no extra space for fighting. The two entangled and fell through the gaps in the branches. Humans are naturally more agile than dried corpses. As Lan Quexi fell, she quickly grabbed a branch below. The dried corpse was hanging from her feet, and below were a group of rotting corpses with outstretched hands—a fall from that point would be incredibly dangerous!

Worse still, on the dark branches, lay countless mummified corpses of royal soldiers, their shriveled bodies scrambling down towards Lanque Creek. Chen Yi stood trembling on the branches, his back hunched, afraid to stand up. Only when Lanque Creek was surrounded from above and below, and he was at his wit's end, did he take a deep breath, raise his head, and curse, "Go to hell! I'll fight you to the death!" With that, he controlled his weight, as if stepping on wooden blocks on a river, mastering the rhythm, and lunged forward, knocking over many mummified corpses. He himself fell onto the intertwined branches, writhing in excruciating pain.

I thought he would live in the shadow of the tree for the rest of his life, but I never imagined that one day he would overcome it because of the love in his heart. I had encouraged him hundreds of times before, but in the end, it was not as effective as a woman in a moment of crisis.

He gritted his teeth, and Lan Quexi took the opportunity to break free of the dried corpse below, climbed to Chen Yi's side, and helped him up. Because there were still dark shadows rushing towards them from above, they had no time to catch their breath and could only hide. It seemed this fierce battle would not stop until everyone was completely destroyed.

We're in dire straits here too! The rotting corpses ahead are rapidly attacking us. Their target is me, because Miss Chu said earlier that Sima Yan wants me and Lan Quexi as his and Mi Ling's resurrection offerings. I thought to myself that I have the sharkskin on me, so even if they capture me, I'll still be useful, and they won't kill me so quickly. So I let Bao Cai go first. Bao Cai looked at the outstretched hands on the ground, and tremblingly climbed onto the coffin. But at that moment, *crack—crack—* a dried corpse broke several tree branches and fell with a thud in front of Bao Cai. He jumped up, terrified, and sat down on the coffin, mouth agape, eyes wide, mumbling incoherently, seemingly scared out of his wits.

The mummified corpse, its teeth gleaming yellow, reached out and moved towards him. Seeing Bao Cai staring in disbelief, I shouted urgently, "Bao Cai, damn it, get up there!"

Perhaps it was the word "sister" that provoked him, for he finally reacted, grabbed the rope with both hands, and climbed up.

I breathed a sigh of relief. All we could see were rotting corpses, their breath reeking of decay, and behind them lay more kneeling bodies. My head was spinning, and my hands were drenched in cold sweat… Perhaps it was the poor ventilation, or perhaps the shock and intense tension had pushed my limits; I felt dizzy, as if I were drunk, and my body felt heavy…

Just then, Bao Cai let out a panicked scream: "Ah! Young master, that thing has grabbed me, grabbed me, help...help me!" I turned around and stared blankly at the dried-up corpse. Its hands were tightly gripping Bao Cai's legs, and Bao Cai was sliding down inch by inch. And from under the soil, several more rotting corpses crawled out, revealing half of their bodies.

Looking at this scene of utter despair, I felt a wave of confusion. Chu Ba, wielding twin swords, crouched down and bumped into my arm. I stumbled forward, and in a daze, I caught a glimpse of Mi Ling's withered face. She smiled at me, and through my hazy vision, I heard her say, "We meet again..." As she spoke, a shadow slowly appeared before me, reached out, and in an instant, pierced my chest! I felt a sudden, sharp pain in my chest. Looking up, I saw a diamond ring appear on the "Heavenly Dog Eroding the Sun" phenomenon, signifying that the "Time of Rebirth" was approaching—meaning the eclipse was about to end!

A surge of joy welled up inside me. I lowered my head, touched my chest, and gasped for breath. When I looked at Mi Ling again, she was still silently behind Chu Ba. Only then did I realize that the smile I saw from her earlier was just an illusion. But thankfully, her hand had pierced my chest, and my muddled consciousness became clear amidst the pain.

"Young Master...Master..." Bao Cai's voice had become inhuman. I turned around and saw him gripping the rope tightly. I didn't know when, but he had been pulled up by the dried corpse below, exposing his buttocks. I could even see the bloody hole pierced by the man-eating vines. His eyes rolled back, indicating that he had exhausted all his strength.

I was afraid that if he continued like this, his lower body would be naked, so I immediately climbed onto the coffin, grabbed the mummified corpse's hand, and chopped it several times from his shoulder blade like cutting sugarcane. The hand was finally cut off, but he was holding Bao Cai's leg very tightly. Bao Cai was freed, but his leg was still dangling with two hands.

Seeing the rotting corpse below, its half-exposed body crawling out of the soil, I frowned and shouted to Bao Cai, "Go up!"

He had no hands to pull up his trousers and was extremely embarrassed as he climbed up inch by inch. At the same time, the rotting corpse made strange noises and grabbed my feet. My heart sank. Several corpses had already surrounded the coffin. Even if I had Chu Ba's sword speed, I couldn't kill that many.

At this moment, besides my mind, my body was already overwhelmed. The wounds on my body, the fighting and running around for days, my hungry stomach... I gave a bitter smile, looking at Chu Ba who was gradually being hidden by the rotting corpses, and the old ancestor on the other side who was trying to escape Sima Yan. I felt a calmness I had never felt before.