Behind me was a dead end, and in front of me was the mudfish group that would devour me without leaving a trace. Whichever way I looked at it, it was certain death. At this critical moment, I thought of those who had defended the trenches about to be overrun, even in the face of certain death, having taken down two Japanese invaders.
Although I hadn't been born in those turbulent times, at least at this moment, I could be considered to die heroically.
"Killing one is enough, killing two is a profit. Come at me!"
I let out a big shout and was just about to rush forward when the group of mudfish in front suddenly stopped. The distance to the front of the array was only one or two meters from me, and their mouths, full of sharp teeth, were open towards me, but they didn't charge at me.
"How strange..."
I also felt very strange to see this scene. Why didn't they charge forward? Was it because they were afraid? or was something stopping them?
I frowned, tried to move forward, but they just wouldn't come over, creating a relatively large vacuum zone in between.
"What's going on?"
I found it even more strange. I even tried waving my hand forward with a bone knife. But the mudfish still didn't pounce on me. I took a few steps back, and when my back leaned against a stone, I felt an instant chilling coldness from the stone.
Something's not right! The air coming from behind this stone is very unusual!
I slowly turned around and saw a huge and smooth stone wall behind me. It was very different from the surrounding stone walls. While the surrounding stone walls looked rough despite being processed, the wall behind me was smooth and even, resembling marble and even felt a bit like ice when touched.
My flashlight had fallen off while running. I raised my head and strained to look, but I could hardly see anything engraved on the stone wall.
"Are there characters on the stone wall?"
I was curious, but the light was too dim; I simply couldn't see clearly. I looked around, still couldn't find a way out, but I found two stone lions standing next to the smooth stone wall. Unlike the lions in front of the main hall, these two lions looked very intact and majestic, with a lifelike appearance. The two lions seemed to be holding something in their mouths, emitting a faint glow in the darkness.
"Treasure?"
At this critical moment, I unexpectedly found treasure. I not only felt as if I were turning the tide. Since the mudfish group couldn’t come over, why not go to see what the stone lion's mouth was holding? I walked quietly to the side of the lion, and as I looked up, it seemed like the lion's mouth had a glowing stone inside?
I immediately thought of the luminous pearl that Zhuzi mentioned. Could it be that I really found the luminous pearl? I was overjoyed and tried to pry the stone out of the lion's mouth with my bone knife, but it seemed to be very firm. I tried to pry for a while, but there was no response.
"Darn, it's so firm!"
I cursed under my breath, took a step back, and wiped the sweat from my forehead. I refused to give up and tried a few more times. However, when I used my fingers to pry from both sides, I unexpectedly made an unexpected discovery! This stone could actually be rotated, and when it was turned, it made a "click click" sound. Then the head of the stone lion turned, and the wall behind it also opened a crack. I was overjoyed; it seemed there was a door!
If there really was a door, wouldn't that mean I could escape from the pursuit of the mudfish group? I carefully examined the crack. It was dark inside, but there was a breeze, indicating a connection to the outside. However, the crack was too narrow, and I couldn't see what was inside, nor could I enter.
"It's so narrow, how do I get in!"
I muttered to myself, took a few steps back, returned to the side of the lion, and tried to turn the stone again, but it seemed to be stuck and wouldn't move. However, I wasn't foolish; just because this stone couldn't move didn't mean the other stone lion couldn't move. I hastily ran over and discovered that the gem held by the other stone lion's mouth could also be rotated! After a few "click click" sounds, the gem turned, and the door on the wall shook again, then opened wider.
This opening was wide enough for me to enter, but a cold chill that made me anxious hit me. There must be a problem inside, but now was not the time to think about that. I certainly didn't want to rush out and be eaten by the mudfish group. With no flashlight, I could only hold onto the bone knife given to me by Han Qianbei and the bell and slowly walk inside.
The wind whistled in my ears. It was very cold, making me shiver. The surrounding darkness kept assaulting me, but this darkness was very quiet, without any sound. I tried to walk carefully while touching the wall, as I couldn't see the road clearly ahead and was afraid of falling into a pit. The mudfish group still hadn't caught up, and I guessed that there must be something in this strange secret room that they were afraid of.
I walked for about three to four minutes, although I hadn't gone very far – I estimated that I had taken only about ten steps, around ten meters. At that moment, a flame suddenly lit up inside the secret room.
It startled me; first, a flame shot up above my head. Then, like a domino effect, these flames started burning one after another. The entire secret room was completely lit up. I knew something was not right and quickly looked around, where I saw a huge stone tablet. I immediately ran over and hid.
After squatting down and looking around, the secret room was fully revealed under the firelight. It was very huge, and the door I came through was facing a main passage. On both sides of the main passage were various stone statues, about two to three meters tall, all of demonic and ghostly appearances. At the end of the main passage, there seemed to be a huge stone platform where the flames were burning in the grooves of the wall, and the cold wind had stopped blowing.
The door kept opening wider, as if something was coming in.
I dare not show up. I cautiously remain silent. But then, a group of people slowly walked in from outside. The first figure that appeared in my eyes was a pale-faced monster, who was very strong, and walked in a majestic manner, dressed in simple armor. There were several other pale-faced monsters following behind. Although they looked fierce, they seemed to lack some charisma. There were a total of ten pale-faced monsters, and I was amazed by their number. It seemed like a grand occasion, like the outing of a high official.
Where is the main character? I kept searching and finally saw the small figure trailing behind the group of pale-faced monsters. It was the same small monster that I had seen coming out of the gate before, with its whole body covered in black cloth, its face invisible.
It walked slowly, holding what seemed like a decrepit staff in its hand. After the group of pale-faced monsters entered, one of them stood in front of each statue, and the pale-faced monster in front of my statue stood still like a soldier.
I shrank back, not daring to show my face. I hid in the shadows and watched as the black-clothed, small monster, suspected to be the Grave Keeper mentioned by the beads, walked to the end of the main passage in the secret room and placed its hand on the stone platform, muttering something incomprehensible.
I didn't understand a word and couldn't help but curse silently "Damn it, Mandarin is promoted throughout the country, and you can't say something I can understand?"
It murmured incessantly, then suddenly scattered a powder. The powder looked strange, clear and shining, but it ignited immediately when it was suspended in the air, like gunpowder. After the powder burnt out, the strongest pale-faced monster suddenly roared, and two more pale-faced monsters entered from outside, dragging something. I focused and realized that they were dragging a person!
The scene looked familiar to me, making me think of when Luoyong was saved. Luoyong was also knocked out and dragged into the underground palace by the pale-faced monsters. Could it be that this person was having the same experience as Luoyong?
The person was dragged to the front of the stone platform, and then two pale-faced monsters lifted him to the Grave Keeper. The Grave Keeper chanted a spell at the person. I sneered inwardly - what's the use of these damn chants?
Just as I was thinking this, I suddenly saw the Grave Keeper take something out of its pocket and forcefully insert it into the person's mouth!