However, perhaps due to cultural differences, in terms of the exquisiteness and luxury of this tomb, it is far inferior to the tombs of ancient Chinese emperors.
Looking around, the winding and crisscrossing mausoleum passages are simply made of bluestone, without any carvings or murals. Such shoddy work would not be allowed in the mausoleums of ancient Chinese emperors.
Zhou Ziwei followed the direction of the flame symbol recorded on the treasure map that Luan Yuqing had taken out, and walked for a while before suddenly realizing that he had completely deviated from that direction.
This result left Zhou Ziwei quite helpless. At the time, he had only glanced at the so-called treasure map that Luan Yuqing had shown him, and after discovering that it was simply a map of this underground tomb, he hadn't paid any more attention to it.
Therefore, although his memory was extremely strong, it was impossible for him to memorize such a complex map in its entirety after only a quick glance.
Moreover, what Luan Yuqing showed was only a part of the entire map of the underground tomb. Most of the map had fallen into Qiao Mulin's hands. It would probably not be easy for Zhou Ziwei to find the location near the center of the tomb with just a fragment of a map.
After traveling a while longer, Zhou Ziwei felt that he was getting further and further away from the direction of the flame symbol. He couldn't help but smile bitterly, knowing that this adventure was probably going to be fruitless. It was probably not far from nightfall. If he continued to go deeper, he might not only fail to get what he wanted, but also lose his life.
It seems that next time we should first go to Qiao Mulin to find the treasure map he got, and then combine it with the one in Luan Yuqing's hand. Only after we have a complete understanding of the structure of this underground tomb will we have a chance to enter the location with the flame symbol.
Although Zhou Ziwei was somewhat greedy, he was not blinded by greed. Now that he had determined that the matter was impossible, he naturally would not force himself to do it. He immediately turned around and began to return the way he came.
However, just as he had taken a few steps back, he suddenly felt a deep chill rise from the bottom of his heart...
Volume 2 The Assassin's Nightmare Chapter 334 Soul-Eating Insects
A chill ran through Zhou Ziwei's heart; he suddenly felt as if he were being watched by something.
However, considering that this is an underground tomb, and a tomb that has been buried for hundreds or thousands of years, what else could be inside besides the souls that absorbed a lot of yin energy after death?
Zhou Ziwei had come here to capture one or two more soul entities, and now that he had made a discovery, he naturally didn't want to leave empty-handed.
Zhou Ziwei immediately turned around, and his soul power radiated out from all directions of his body. Although it did not form a soul coverage, it took care of almost every corner in front, behind, left, and right. In this way, no matter which direction a soul suddenly appeared, Zhou Ziwei would not be caught off guard.
However, after a short while, Zhou Ziwei did not find a single soul entity, but he inexplicably sensed a group of tiny flying insects, about half the size of ordinary fruit worms, flying abruptly from behind and quickly entering the reconnaissance network that Zhou Ziwei had created with his soul power.
Huh... how come there are insects here? There's nothing to eat in this tomb, so how do these insects survive? Could it be... that these insects flew in through the small hole near the bat cave, like the ladybugs last time? Hmm... that must be it, otherwise even if there were insects in this tomb from the beginning, they would probably have become extinct over the centuries!
Just as Zhou Ziwei was speculating about the origin of these small insects, he suddenly felt that dozens of strands of soul power he had radiated in that direction were disappearing rapidly at an eerie speed.
What happened? Why did my soul power suddenly and automatically dissipate?
Zhou Ziwei was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized that the speed at which his soul power disappeared was directly proportional to the speed at which the swarm of flying insects moved forward. In other words, wherever the swarm of flying insects passed, the soul power that Zhou Ziwei released would immediately disappear.
These insects, these insects... they are devouring my soul power.
Zhou Ziwei exclaimed in surprise, immediately feeling a chill run down his spine, as if all the hairs on his body were standing on end.
Soul power is a special kind of energy, not a normal physical substance, so why are these insects able to devour it whole?
Although Zhou Ziwei also possesses the ability to devour souls, he only achieves this through the Buddhist Six-Syllable Mantra. So how did these flying insects manage to do it?
Seeing his soul power rapidly diminishing, Zhou Ziwei no longer dared to stand there foolishly releasing his soul power to feed these little flying insects.
He hurriedly withdrew all the soul power radiating to that area, then with a slight thought, he opened his mouth slightly, and a strange energy attack beam shot out from Zhou Ziwei's mouth. In the blink of an eye, it was like a violent energy, directly enveloping the large group of small flying insects.
Since Zhou Ziwei's Soul Roar seemed to have increased in power last time, he was worried that the increased power of the Soul Roar was too great and that it might accidentally harm a large number of innocent people. So, although he had encountered some trouble in Tengchong, Zhou Ziwei had not used it on anyone again.
But this time... this is a deep underground tomb. There are no people here, but there might be a group of ghosts.
Zhou Ziwei was not worried about accidentally hurting the group of evil spirits. If those souls could be so easily injured by the roar of souls, then Zhou Ziwei would not have to worry about dealing with those ghostly creatures.
What Zhou Ziwei didn't expect was that his Soul Roar technique was not only useless against solidified souls, but it was also completely ineffective against these small flying insects.
Oh no... Zhou Ziwei's soul roar was not only useless against these small flying insects, but it actually... became a great supplement for them.
Ultimately, this soul roar is nothing more than a way of spitting out soul power in a special wave pattern. Although this way of spitting out power has become somewhat frenzied and more aggressive, in essence, it is not much different from the simple soul power rays radiating from Zhou Ziwei's body.
So... it's still just food for those little flying insects.
The fluctuations of the soul's roar disappeared silently. When Zhou Ziwei cautiously released a few strands of soul power to check on the other side, he was horrified to find that the group of tiny flying insects, each one smaller than a grain of millet, now looked as if they had been inflated, their bellies swollen and round.
It swelled up to the size of a soybean.
Through the sense of touch of his soul power, Zhou Ziwei discovered that the swarm of tiny flying insects were all hovering motionless in mid-air, no longer flying forward. Moreover, this time they did not seem to be devouring the soul power rays that Zhou Ziwei had extended. Zhou Ziwei was puzzled and didn't know whether his soul roar had worked or not.
If it didn't work, why did these little flying insects stay there motionless? But if it really worked, then... why didn't these little flying insects dissipate and turn into a pile of insect corpses on the ground?
Since they can still float in the air, it proves that these little flying insects are at least not dead.
Is it because it ate too much? Is it too tired to fly?
Look at those little flying insects, their bellies swollen to several times their original size; it really is quite possible.
Damn, if I could just stuff these guys to death, that would be great. Then I'd let them devour my soul power and stuff them to death.
With a soft "pop," as if in response to Zhou Ziwei's thoughts, just as Zhou Ziwei's idea of stuffing them to death had just arisen, the round belly of one of the big-bellied flying insects opposite him suddenly burst open.
As soon as the first small flying insect's abdomen burst open, it seemed to trigger a chain reaction, and the "fluttering" sound immediately began to echo continuously among the large swarm of small flying insects.
In less than three seconds, almost all the small flying insects with swollen bellies burst open.
"Haha... What a bunch of brainless gluttons! They actually choked themselves to death because of their greed!" Zhou Ziwei laughed heartily when he saw that although his soul roar had not directly shattered the souls of these little flying insects, it had still achieved the same purpose.
However, right after that series of explosions, an even more unsettling buzzing sound came from ahead once again, instantly bringing Zhou Ziwei's unrestrained laughter to an abrupt halt.
As Zhou Ziwei's soul power swept across the spot where the small flying insects had exploded once more, he was horrified to discover that after the group of large-bellied flying insects exploded, a large number of small flying insects, at least three times the number of the previous ones, suddenly reappeared in the same spot.
Damn it, these little flying insects weren't just stuffed to death, but... they were splitting apart. One little flying insect had now split into at least three.
Just as Zhou Ziwei was momentarily stunned, the soul power he had used to sweep into the swarm of flying insects suddenly vanished as quickly as if it had disappeared into the sea.
Moreover, this time the speed at which it disappeared was more than twice as fast as the previous time.
Zhou Ziwei was terrified and dared not fight the small flying insects any longer. He immediately withdrew all the soul power he had just released into his body, turned around, and ran frantically towards the exit.
When Zhou Ziwei started running at full speed, his speed was naturally quite astonishing. Although the small flying insects were not slow, they were still much slower than Zhou Ziwei. So after Zhou Ziwei ran for two or three minutes, there was no sound behind him anymore.
That's terrifying.
Zhou Ziwei stopped and unconsciously took a few breaths.
He now understood why he had ventured so deep into the tomb without encountering a single soul entity. It seemed that these swarms of small flying insects were the natural nemesis of those soul entities! Those soul entities did not have a physical body as a vessel; they only possessed a ball of pure soul energy.
Those little flying insects seem to live by devouring soul energy, so wherever these little flying insects are, even the most powerful souls would probably have to retreat!
Zhou Ziwei seems to be similar to those soul entities. Although Zhou Ziwei is not a pure soul entity and still has his own complete physical body, all his abilities are basically based on his powerful soul force. If his soul force is devoured by those small flying insects, it will be a terrible disaster for him.
Without the power of his soul, Zhou Ziwei would immediately revert to his original form, probably reverting to the same pathetic coward he was in his previous life, with nothing left to be proud of.
Zhou Ziwei had already gotten used to the feeling of being powerful. If he were to be reduced to his original form and become a mediocre and useless person again, he felt he would rather just be eaten by these insects right there.
Just as Zhou Ziwei was feeling relieved that he seemed to have finally escaped a disaster, he suddenly realized with dismay that he seemed to be lost.
The outer perimeter of this mausoleum was definitely built in the style of a maze, with branching paths everywhere. If you're not careful, it's easy to get lost inside.
Zhou Ziwei had considered these things when he came in, so he carefully left a mark at each fork in the road to make sure he didn't go the wrong way on his way back.
However, Zhou Ziwei was almost scared out of his wits by that swarm of terrifying little flying insects. In his anxiety, he didn't even think about looking for the signs at the fork in the road, and so he went all the way there in one breath.
Zhou Ziwei soon realized that the direction he had come from seemed completely unfamiliar, meaning that this was his first time here, and therefore, this was not the way out.
Zhou Ziwei frowned slightly, knowing that this couldn't go on. If they wanted to find a way out, it would be best to find their way back to the original path first. As long as Zhou Ziwei could find the original path, he was confident that he could return to the exit.
However, doing that would be too risky. What if he turned around and bumped into the swarm of small flying insects that he had finally managed to get rid of? Wouldn't that be courting death?
If all else fails, we might as well just drill a hole right here and crawl out.
Thinking back on how terrifying that swarm of tiny flying insects had been, Zhou Ziwei really didn't have the courage to turn back.
Fortunately, after devouring the soul of that blood shadow, he mastered the amazing art of burrowing underground, and now he is least afraid of being trapped underground.
For him, the entire mausoleum could serve as his entrance and exit.
The only thing that could stop him was that thick stone wall.
With Zhou Ziwei's current strength, he couldn't tear the thick stone slab apart with his bare hands, but that was no problem for him. No matter how hard the stone slab was, it was nothing more than a pile of dust under the decomposition rays of his Soul Pearl.
So Zhou Ziwei stood still and began to fully radiate his soul power outwards.
The underground tomb is extremely large and is built inside a mountain. Zhou Ziwei must first determine which direction leads to the surface more quickly or which is closer to the soil before he can decide which direction to go.
Otherwise, if he were to dive into a mountain surrounded by rocks, how many Soul Pearls would he have to use to dig through the mountain and climb out?
His soul power extended to a distance of over sixty meters, projecting a large area of the tomb into his mind through the tactile sensation of his soul power.
He then discovered, to his dismay, that he was indeed deep inside a mountain, and that no matter how far he looked, there was no trace of soil even sixty meters away in any direction.
The stone walls on all sides were not thick, each only about half a meter thick. However, behind the stone walls was still a deep passageway, and on the other side of the passageway were still stone walls, and what you could see through those stone walls was still another passageway.
It seems that his aimless wandering just now had unknowingly taken him deep into the tomb.
Beneath Zhou Ziwei's feet, after passing through a stone layer more than three meters thick, lay another layer of tomb passage. Below that layer, there was a third layer. With the current range of Zhou Ziwei's soul power, he could only detect up to that point. Whether there was a fourth layer below the third was unknown.
As for the top, there was no other burial chamber, but it stretched for sixty meters out through a layer of hard rock and soil, which was clearly the bottom of that mountain. To climb straight up from the top of the tomb, one would probably have to break through at least three or four hundred meters of the mountain.
Zhou Ziwei was slightly dumbfounded. Just as he was wondering which direction to rush in, the soul power scattered around his body suddenly sensed that the swarm of tiny flying insects had caught up with him and instantly devoured a small portion of the soul power that Zhou Ziwei had radiated out.
Zhou Ziwei was greatly surprised and hurriedly withdrew his soul power again.
Fortunately, although the small flying insects had flown within a straight line of sixty meters of him, there were still at least three stone walls in between.
In other words, for those little flying insects to catch up with him, they would probably have to circle around those tunnels at least twice more.
Therefore, Zhou Ziwei did not rush to escape immediately. Instead, he looked around to roughly determine his possible location. Then he chose a direction and prepared to rely on his invincible soul pearl to open a straight passage and rush out, no matter how many forks in the road there were.
Otherwise, if one were to run along the passageways in this maze-like tomb, one might wander until death and still not find a way out.
With a soft "bang," a soul bead, enveloped by Zhou Ziwei's soul power, slammed into the opposite stone wall, instantly creating a huge circular hole in it.
Then, before the countless stone dust could fall, Zhou Ziwei, using his own force field, squeezed his way out of the hole.
With the force field blocking the way, not a single speck of stone dust adhered to Zhou Ziwei's body.
As his body passed through, Zhou Ziwei didn't hesitate at all. Another low-quality soul bead flew out, opening a round hole in the next stone wall, and then he continued to drill forward... In short, Zhou Ziwei was determined to go in this direction and planned to go all the way until he could get out of this huge tomb.
After consuming twelve soul beads and passing through twelve stone walls, a straight passageway suddenly appeared before them.
Having already decided to go straight in this direction, and with a path in front of him, Zhou Ziwei naturally wouldn't choose to turn a corner and crash into the wall.
So Zhou Ziwei stretched out his body and ran more than fifty meters along the straight passageway before finally seeing the passageway turn again ahead.
However, Zhou Ziwei certainly wouldn't turn around following the angle of this passage. Seeing a thick stone wall blocking the way, he didn't hesitate to throw another soul bead at it...
With a soft "bang," a round hole appeared ahead. Zhou Ziwei rushed into the hole while releasing a wisp of his soul power to probe the passage behind it. However, he suddenly discovered that his soul bead had failed to penetrate the stone wall.
Zhou Ziwei was slightly taken aback, then overjoyed, wondering if he had finally reached the edge of the tomb. However, when he extended his soul power a little further forward, he suddenly froze...