Tomb raiding live stream: Starting as the mute Zhang

The water in the pool of blood was still receding.

A gurgling sound came from the bottom of the pool, as if something was drawing in water. The water level had receded to just a small patch in the center, exposing the surrounding pool walls. The large circular pattern engraved on the bronze plate was now clearly visible.

The groove in the very center of the disc is exactly the same shape as the black stone disc in Xie Linyuan's hand.

The pool was surrounded by piles of partially decomposed corpses, the stench giving everyone a headache. Chen Man vomited several times, but now she couldn't even vomit bile anymore, and leaned against Wang Yihan, panting. Kun Ge sat far away, covering his nose with a handkerchief. Liu Desheng stared blankly at the pool, lost in thought. Jiang Shouyi was flipping through his notebook, which had been wet and dried repeatedly. Professor Zhou Xu'an was still staring at the patterns on the bronze plate, his eyes behind his glasses shining frighteningly.

Lin Guoce is taking inventory of the remaining items.

"The food will last me a day and a half, and if I drink water sparingly, it can last me two days. The batteries..." He pressed the flashlight button; the light had dimmed considerably. "They'll only last for another five or six hours at most."

No one spoke.

The live stream chat was sparse with comments.

[ID exhausted: Will they even be able to get out?]

[ID Battery Anxiety: If the battery dies, it's really over]

[ID Stinks: I can smell it even through the screen]

Xie Linyuan stood up.

He walked to the edge of the pool, squatted down, and touched the surface of the bronze plate with his fingers.

It's cold.

But the temperature around the groove was different, slightly warmer. He took out the black stone disc, compared it to the size of the groove, and it fit perfectly. But he didn't put it in.

If we put it in now, who knows what will happen?

He put away the disc and turned to look at the other side of the cave.

The blood pool wasn't the whole cave. In a corner where the glowing moss couldn't reach, there was a shadowy area. He walked over and shone his flashlight there.

There's something standing there.

Stone statue.

These aren't the small stone beasts on the railings outside; they are life-sized stone statues. There are twelve in total, arranged in two rows, standing face to face. The statues have strange shapes—human bodies, but with horns on their heads, winged skeletons on their backs, and each holding a weapon: a knife, a sword, a halberd, and an axe.

The statue's face is roughly carved, with only basic facial features. However, the eye sockets are empty, two black holes, which looks somewhat eerie.

Xie Linyuan approached the first stone statue.

The statue held a stone knife in its hand; the blade showed signs of wear, as if it had been used frequently. He reached out and touched the stone knife.

The sensation from my fingertips is wrong.

The temperature of the stone should be the same as the environment, but the temperature of this knife is even lower, like ice.

He withdrew his hand and looked into the statue's eyes.

There seemed to be something reflecting light inside those two black holes.

He raised his flashlight and shone it into a black hole.

The moment the beam of light shone in, he saw it.

One eye.

The human eye.

Inside the stone, it was open, watching him.

Xie Linyuan immediately retreated.

But it was too late.

The stone statue moved.

First, his fingers bent one by one, gripping the stone knife tightly. Then his arms rose. Next, his entire body stepped off the base, the stone joints creaking and groaning as they rubbed together.

The first statue moved, and then the second statue moved as well.

All twelve stone statues have come to life.

They turned around, their empty eyes all looking at Xie Linyuan.

Then he raised his weapon and walked over.

The footsteps were heavy, each step making the ground tremble.

Lin Guoce's side also saw it, and everyone immediately stood up and stepped back.

"What is this now?!" Liu Desheng shouted.

"A mechanical guard," Xie Linyuan said, his voice still calm. "It only activates when touched."

"What do we do now?"

"beat."

Xie Linyuan drew his black gold ancient sword.

The first stone statue had already reached the front, and the stone knife cleaved down.

Xie Linyuan dodged to the side, his blade flashing upwards, striking the stone statue's wrist.

clang!

Sparks flew everywhere.

The statue's wrist was slashed with a deep gash, but not severed. Its other hand came crashing down in a fist.

Xie Linyuan ducked to avoid the attack, and the blade pierced towards the stone statue's abdomen.

The stone was too hard; the tip of the knife only went in an inch.

The stone statue felt no pain and continued its attack.

Other stone statues also gathered around.

Lin Guoce was also entangled by the three stone statues. His military dagger struck the stone, leaving only white marks. When a stone statue's axe came down, he rolled away to dodge, the axe smashing a crater in the ground.

"We can't beat them!" Lin Guoce shouted.

Xie Linyuan glanced at the eyes of the stone statue.

The eyes of the people inside are moving.

He got it.

The stone statue is an outer shell; there is a person inside.

Or rather, it was once a human being.

He dodged the spear thrust of one stone statue, leaped up, stepped onto the shoulder of another stone statue, and used the momentum to jump behind the first stone statue.

The blade was aimed at the back of the stone statue's neck.

There is a gap there.

He inserted the tip of the knife and pried it open forcefully.

A stone slab was pried open.

The contents are exposed.

A mummified corpse.

The mummified corpse was curled up inside the stone statue, its hands and feet bound by bronze chains. Its eyes were open, the pupils sunken, yet it still maintained a posture of looking at people. A black stone was stuffed into its mouth.

Xie Linyuan flicked the tip of his knife and picked out the black stone.

The dried corpse's eyes closed immediately.

The stone statue stopped.

It stopped moving.

Xie Linyuan landed and did the same to the other stone statues.

He jumped up, pried open the stone slab at the back of his neck, and picked out the black stone.

One statue, two statues, three statues...

One by one, the stone statues stopped and turned into real stone.

Xie Linyuan also went to help resolve the issue with Lin Guoce.

Five minutes later, all twelve stone statues came to a standstill.

Twelve black stones fell to the ground.

Xie Linyuan picked up a piece and looked at it.

The surface of the black stone was engraved with tiny runes, unlike any he had ever seen before. These runes were active—not actually moving, but appearing to writhe if you looked at them for a while.

"This is... a corpse-controlling stone?" Jiang Shouyi leaned closer to examine it, his voice trembling. "Ancient books mention that special stones are carved with incantations and placed in the mouth of the dead to control their movement. But it requires a human sacrifice..."

"Human sacrifice?" Professor Zhou Xu'an asked.

"They were living people." Jiang Shouyi pointed to the mummified corpses inside the stone statue. "These people were still alive when they were stuffed into the statue. Then they were sealed in and slowly died inside. Their resentment was locked inside them, controlled by the black stone..."

Chen Man started gagging again.

Live stream chat:

[ID Cruel: Ancient people were terrifying]

[ID Technical Analysis: Is this the earliest robot?]

[ID: Creepy: Suffocated to death inside]

Xie Linyuan put away the black stones.

"Keep going," he said.

At the other end of the cave, there is an exit.

It wasn't a door, but a natural rock crevice, about one meter wide and over two meters high. The crevice was pitch black, and no one knew where it led.

Xie Linyuan went in first.

The crevice was long; after walking about fifty meters, three forks appeared ahead.

There were three holes, all about the same size, and all pitch black.

The middle opening has an arrow symbol carved on the wall, pointing forward.

There were some broken bones scattered on the ground at the left-hand opening.

A very faint breeze was blowing out of the hole on the right.

The line stopped at the fork in the road.

"Which way?" Lin Guoce asked.

Everyone looked at Xie Linyuan.

Xie Linyuan walked to each cave entrance and examined them one by one.

The arrow symbol at the central opening is newly carved—new relative to the ancient tomb, it may be several hundred years old. The edges of the symbol are smooth, as if it has been touched frequently.

The broken bones at the left entrance are human bones, but they are very fragmented, as if they were bitten and spat out by something.

At the right entrance of the cave, the wind carried moisture and a hint of fresh air.

He thought about it.

"The right side," he said.

"Why?" Professor Zhou Xu'an asked, "The one in the middle has an arrow pointing the way, so it might be the right path."

"It's too obvious," Xie Linyuan said. "It's like a trap."

"What about the left side?"

"Bone-crushing, something is eating people."

The professor fell silent.

Xie Linyuan walked into the cave entrance on the right.

The others followed.

This passage was narrower than the previous ones, allowing only one person to pass at a time. It also got lower and lower as you went, requiring you to bend over at the end. The walls were wet and dripping water. The floor was slippery, and several people slipped and fell.

After walking about 100 meters, a light appeared ahead.

It is not the light of the moss, but the real light.

sunlight.

Although very faint, it was indeed sunlight.

Everyone perked up and quickened their pace.

At the end of the passage was a small opening.

Outside the cave entrance is a platform in the middle of a cliff.

The platform wasn't large, about ten square meters. It was daytime outside, but the sky was overcast, as if it were about to rain. The platform was halfway up a cliff, with a bottomless valley below and steep rock walls above.

The wind was so strong that it was hard to stand.

"This...this is out?" Kun said excitedly.

Xie Linyuan walked to the edge of the platform and looked down.

The valley was deep, with forests at the bottom, but it was at least two or three hundred meters above the ground. There were no paths around the platform, only some shallow indentations in the rock face that looked like they could be climbed, but the gaps were too large for an ordinary person to climb up.

"There's no way out." Lin Guoce realized it too. "This platform is a dead end."

Xie Linyuan looked up.

About thirty meters up the rock face, there is a dark cave entrance.

That hole is larger than this one, and there are chisel marks on the edges, indicating that it was carved out by hand.

"Up there," he said.

"How do we get up there?" Liu Desheng asked. "The rock face is almost vertical."

Xie Linyuan took off his backpack and took out a climbing rope from it—the one Lin Guoce had brought before, but hadn't used it.

He tied one end of the rope around his waist and threw the other end to Lin Guoce.

"Pull him along."

Then he walked to the rock face and began to climb.

Without tools, we used our hands and feet.

His fingers dug into the cracks in the rock, his toes found a protrusion, and his body clung to it like a gecko. The movements were so fluid they seemed inhuman, every point of exertion perfectly timed.

The people below were all looking up at them.

Live stream chat:

[ID Climbing Master: This skill...even world champions can't match it]

[ID: Stamina Monster: Isn't he tired?]

[ID Security: It really makes me feel safe with the delivery guy around]

Xie Linyuan climbed very quickly, reaching a height of over thirty meters in just two minutes. He climbed to the cave entrance, stood firm, and gestured downwards.

Lin Guoce secured the rope, and the others began to climb one by one.

With the help of ropes, the climb was slow, but safe. It took half an hour for everyone to get up.

Inside the cave entrance, there is a staircase leading upwards.

The steps were steep, but well-maintained. After walking about fifty meters, a stone gate appeared ahead.

The stone door was half open, and light shone through the crack.

It wasn't sunlight, it was firelight.

Xie Linyuan stopped in front of the door and looked inside.

Behind the door was a small stone chamber, about twenty square meters. In the center of the chamber was a brazier, and the flames inside were burning—not an illusion, but real fire, burning black grease that smelled very strange.

Three people were sitting around the brazier.

Three living people.

They were dressed in modern, but worn-out, clothes. A middle-aged man, a young woman, and an old man were sitting around a brazier, roasting something—rats, which were already burnt.

Hearing the noise, the three of them turned around at the same time.

Six eyes gleamed in the firelight.

Then they laughed.

His laughter was creepy.

"Here we go again," the middle-aged man said.

"Food," the young woman said.

"Fresh," the old man said.

They stood up, holding knives in their hands.

It's not an ancient knife, but a modern tin knife, but it's very sharp.

Xie Linyuan gripped the black gold ancient sword tightly.

Something's off about these three people.

Their eyes are red.

It wasn't the kind of red that comes from bloodshot eyes; the entire eyeball was red, like someone had some kind of illness.

Moreover, the way they look at people doesn't seem like they're looking at people, but rather like they're looking at food.

"Step back," Xie Linyuan said to the people behind him.

Lin Guoce had already raised his gun and aimed.

The three men rushed over.

It was very fast, abnormally fast.

Xie Linyuan went to greet him.

A flash of light.

The middle-aged man's head flew off.

But his body was still surging forward, and he only collapsed after taking a few steps.

The young woman and the old man rushed in front of him, their knives aimed at Xie Linyuan.

Xie Linyuan parried left and right, kicked the old man away, and the blade sliced ​​across the young woman's neck.

Blood spurted out.

But the young woman was not dead; she was still moving and reached out to grab Xie Linyuan's face.

Xie Linyuan's blade flashed, severing her hand.

The old man got up from the ground, roared, and charged again.

Xie Linyuan stabbed him through the chest with a knife.

The old man fell to the ground, twitched a few times, and then remained still.

The young woman was still crawling, blood flowing from the wound on her neck, but her eyes were still red as she stared at Xie Linyuan.

Xie Linyuan walked over and stabbed her in the heart with a knife.

He finally died.

The stone chamber fell silent.

Only the flames in the brazier were flickering.

Xie Linyuan sheathed his knife and examined the three corpses.

The corpse's skin was unnaturally white. The blood vessels were black, resembling a spider web beneath the skin. The teeth were sharp, like those of a wild animal.

"Who...who are they?" Chen Man hid outside the door, too afraid to come in.

"It's man-eating," Xie Linyuan said. "Being trapped here for so long, it changes you."

"How long were you trapped?"

"Look at the clothes." Xie Linyuan pointed to the middle-aged man's coat. "That style is at least twenty years old."

Twenty years.

Trapped in this ancient tomb for twenty years, eating rats, eating... people.

It turned out like this.

Lin Guoce walked in and inspected the area next to the brazier.

There were some bones piled up there.

human bones.

Some were still very fresh, with shredded meat still attached.

He turned his head and said to the door, "Don't come in."

But it was too late; Chen Man saw it and vomited again.

Xie Linyuan walked to the other side of the stone chamber.

There was a small door there, and behind the door was another room.

The room was piled with some things: a worn-out backpack, a rusty kettle, and several rotten diaries.

He picked up a diary and opened it.

The handwriting is blurred, but some parts are still legible:

"...On the third day, we got lost..."

"...On the seventh day, the food ran out..."

"...On the fifteenth day, Old Wang died, and we..."

The words after that are illegible.

Xie Linyuan put down his diary.

This group of people came in twenty years ago. They might have been tomb raiders, or they might have been an expedition team. They got trapped here, unable to get out, and eventually turned into man-eating monsters.

He stepped out of the room and looked at the line.

"Rest," he said. "It's safe here."

It's safe, at least for now.

The stone chamber had a fire and ventilation, making it much better than the places below.

The group entered and sat down around the brazier—far away from the three corpses.

Xie Linyuan sat at the doorway, looking out into the dark passageway.

he was thinking.

Just how big is this ancient tomb?

How many more floors are there?

How much longer do we have to walk?

he does not know.

But he knew he had to keep going.