Vollständiges Metamorphose-Handbuch

Kapitel 40

"What...what is this?" the young master stammered.

I shook my head and remained silent, but I felt increasingly agitated and uneasy. This thing was so strange. At first glance, it looked somewhat like a human, but it was also very elusive. Its size was about that of a four or five-year-old child. Could it be that... that legendary thing actually exists?

If that's the case, then this tomb is probably extremely unusual. Without thinking, I grabbed the girl and shouted, "Let's go!" Ignoring the strange looks from the two men behind me, I pulled the girl towards the exit. My only thought was—I'd rather go to Xinjiang to move bricks than break into this tomb. Getting out of here was the priority; to hell with treasures and curses.

But—I had only taken a few steps when my gaze fell upon the doorway I had entered through, and I was instantly chilled to the bone. It felt as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water over my head during a cold winter, chilling me from head to toe.

Young Master and Huang Zhihua followed behind me, their faces pale and their eyes wide with disbelief.

"How could... how could this happen?" Huang Zhihua stammered.

The stone chamber entrance, which was originally unobstructed, was now completely sealed—not even a trace of a door could be seen. I remembered clearly that this was the stone door we had entered through, but now, it was exactly the same as the surrounding walls, with no indication of the original opening. I took the flashlight from Asia Pacific and shone it around. I couldn't see the opposite stone wall clearly, but it probably didn't have an exit either… In an instant, this place had become a closed space.

"What should we do?" the young master asked me anxiously.

What to do? What to do? I glared at the young master. Couldn't he think for himself, that pig-brain? The only way now is to find a way out. Since the entrance has been blocked, then—if we don't want to become nourishment for something else, we must leave as soon as possible.

The girl was terrified, grabbing my clothes with her little hands. I looked around and suddenly remembered the lovebirds she had pointed out to me earlier. That's right—the ancients valued symmetry the most. Since there was a door on this side, there should be a door on the other side as well.

Thinking of this, I didn't even hesitate, grabbed the girl and ran towards the other side, but just then, I heard a sobbing sound behind me, so pitiful, and I couldn't help but turn around to look.

Thinking of this, I didn't even hesitate, grabbed the girl and ran towards the other side, but just then, I heard a sobbing sound behind me, so pitiful, and I couldn't help but turn around to look.

In an instant, a faint green shadow, like smoke, enveloped my face. I smelled a rotten odor and almost vomited on the spot. I swung my ancient bronze sword directly at it, and by instinct, it seemed to have struck something—

A mournful, eerie cry pierced my ears, striking deep into my mind. I froze, my hand momentarily slowing, and the wisp of pale green smoke rushed towards me.

But I knew in my heart that if I were to be engulfed by this ghastly green smoke, I would likely be in grave danger.

Just then, I heard the girl's terrified scream, as if a demonic sound was piercing my brain. The shrill cry no longer seemed terrifying. In a panic, I instinctively swung my sword at the green ghostly figure.

With a sharp screech, my eyes lit up; the ghastly green smoke that had enveloped me had finally vanished.

I was panting heavily. In less than a minute, my clothes were almost completely soaked with sweat. I was so nervous. I gripped the girl's hand tightly with one hand and the bronze sword with the other. My knuckles were turning white from the excessive tension.

"Old Xu, are you alright?" the young master asked anxiously.

"Run!" I didn't have time to say anything. The green ghostly figure had only hidden itself; it hadn't disappeared at all. This seemingly ordinary yet magnificent tomb was truly terrifying.

Waaaaaah... Waaaaah...

Just as I was pulling the girl along quickly toward the opposite stone wall, that mournful cry rang out again.

"What the hell is this nonsense?" Huang Zhihua roared, raising his gun and looking up at the source of the sound. However, the huge stone chamber was empty, with nothing but the thirteen large stone pillars.

"Run! Don't worry about him!" I shouted, trying to pull the girl away. But just then, she grabbed my hand and bit it hard...

Ah… I was caught completely off guard and got bitten squarely. I cried out in pain and instinctively flung my arm away, asking in surprise, “What are you doing?”

After being shaken off, the girl didn't even glance at me, turning and running towards the largest stone pillar.

Oh no, I sensed something was wrong and rushed after her, but I was a step too late. We were only two meters apart when we watched as the girl hugged the stone pillar in a bizarre posture.

Boom! A loud bang, as if struck by lightning, filled my mind. The girl's current posture... was truly bizarre, but this wasn't the first time I'd seen her like this. When Shan Jun died, he was dragged from the water by something, in a similar posture, as if he were fighting someone. So... so she was holding something?

What on earth happened? The young master and I stood facing each other, less than a meter apart, speechless, our hearts filled with utter terror... I even wondered, what if something happened to me while swimming?

My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of my mouth, but I knew even better that I absolutely couldn't let the girl continue like this.

“Mr. Huang…” I turned around to look for Huang Zhihua, but in the blink of an eye, what stood behind me was not Huang Zhihua, but a green shadow. I could even clearly see that it had a ferocious and terrifying smile on its face, just like Wang Quansheng looked after he died.

Ah... In my terror, anger, and anxiety, I didn't have time to think, and instinctively swung the ancient bronze sword down at his head.

"Old Xu, are you crazy..." Huang Zhihua exclaimed, and at the same time, he ducked and nimbly dodged my sword light. Even so, he still fell heavily to the ground. If he hadn't been a soldier and trained in combat, he probably would have died on the spot under my sword.

"How could it be you?" I was confused too; I clearly saw that green ghostly figure just now.

Hallucination—it must be a hallucination... Thinking this, I didn't bother to explain anything to Huang Zhihua and rushed to pull the girl away. But as soon as my hand touched her, she screamed hysterically, trembling all over, and clung tightly to the large stone pillar.

"Wake up..." I didn't care about anything else. I grabbed the girl's shoulders and shook her hard. The pale green smoke from earlier was probably poisonous and could cause hallucinations, but we were all wearing gas masks. How could we be poisoned? I couldn't figure it out.

The young master also came to help, and it took a lot of effort to calm the girl down. But through the gas mask, I could see that the girl's eyes were filled with fear... She leaned against me and trembled.

Damn it—I couldn’t help but curse that old man from the south in my heart. If he weren’t such a scoundrel, why would the girl have to suffer like this?

Waaaaah...

Before we could even catch our breath, a mournful cry rang out again overhead. The ghastly green shadow flickered among the thirteen stone pillars, looking eerie and unsettling.

rustling...rustling...Just as all our attention was drawn to the eerie, pale green shadow floating in the air, a chilling rustling sound came from beneath our feet.

"What? Why didn't you ask?" Huang Zhihua had already gotten up from the ground and didn't have time to ask me about the question from earlier. He asked urgently.

I gripped the ancient bronze sword in one hand and looked around. I noticed that faint red light was rising from the four corners of the stone chamber...

"What is that?" the young master murmured to himself, as if asking us.

"Damn it!" Huang Zhihua muttered angrily, touching his gas mask. "Anyway, no one's coming to greet us with red lanterns..."

The red light was getting closer and closer. Because it was still far away, I could only vaguely make out what looked like a person... In each of the four corners, there was a person, slowly approaching us, the uninvited tomb raiders.

Chapter Six: Glowing Underground Corpse Worms

Gradually, the red light drew closer, and we could clearly see what it was. Until it was right in front of us, I couldn't help but gasp. To be honest, I had prepared myself before entering the tomb, but seeing this thing still made me gasp—

What is this thing? From a distance, I almost mistook it for a person because it's about 1.67 meters tall, roughly the same height as a person. But just because it has wings doesn't mean it's an angel. So, anything about the same height as a person is definitely not human.

Or should I say, is this an insect? A face resembling a cockroach.

It has two long antennae on its head. At first glance, it really is a distant relative of the cockroach, the animal that housewives fear most. However, its body is similar to a human body, with two hands... or rather, two claws, two legs, and the glowing body is covered with dense scales.

Scales that glow? I was briefly surprised. I had heard that in some tropical rainforests in North America, there is a kind of python whose body is covered with beautiful scales that glow at night. But—it is these very beautiful scales that have brought them the nightmare of almost extinction, and they can never escape the endless hunting by humans.

Could it be that these cockroaches, which resemble humans, also have the same scales?

Four cockroach-like humanoid monsters approached from four different angles and stopped about three meters away from us, staring at us.

For some reason, I felt uneasy under the gaze of such a monster. I turned to look at the young master next to me, and he was also staring in disbelief.

"Waaaaah..." Just as we were paying attention to the cockroach monster, a mournful cry suddenly came from above again, and a pale green sight flew past almost touching my head.

Although I didn't understand what it was, I instinctively took the initiative to attack under such circumstances, since there were definitely no living people or nationally protected animals in there.

The ancient bronze sword, gleaming with a cold, chilling light, swept towards the ghastly green shadow. This time, I vaguely felt the tip of the sword touch something, and at the same time, a scream pierced my ears—

I was secretly delighted; I had finally managed to injure this ghostly figure. But before I could even rejoice, I heard the young master's terrified cry beside me: "Old Xu, run!"

From the four cockroach-like humanoid monsters, tiny red worms flew up and quickly pounced on us.

Good heavens! So these monsters weren't covered in scales after all, but in clusters of unknown beetles? These beetles weren't large, but they were entirely crimson, emitting a faint red glow in mid-air. Because of the extremely close proximity, these crimson beetles seemed to pounce at lightning speed. I had no time to defend myself, and my bronze sword swung instinctively, while the young master was also wielding an entrenching tool.

"Protect the girl, I'll clear the way." We wore protective masks on our heads, and because we were afraid of groundwater and because the Kunlun eye of the storm was near the Yellow River, we were all wearing military-grade protective gear. For the time being, although these crimson beetles pounced on our department, they couldn't hurt us.

However, there were too many crimson beetles, their bodies shimmering red, as if they were touched by blood. They were only the size of a fingernail. I swung my sword and killed two of them. As soon as these beetles died, they turned into yellowish-white pus, showing that they contained strong toxins.

"Waaaaah..." The mournful cries were right above me. I was wielding my ancient bronze sword to clear a path while also trying to figure out which way to go. The only way out should be on the opposite wall—according to the Chinese people's fondness for symmetry.

"Ah..." Suddenly, I heard the girl scream behind me. Ignoring the beetles in front of me, I turned around and saw several bright red beetles crawling through the opening of the gas mask into the girl's neck and collar.

Damn it! I was shocked. Ignoring the danger, I hurriedly helped the girl swat the beetles off her body. In the rush, it seemed that a beetle crawled onto my hand. I was so scared that I shook my hand off repeatedly. I finally managed to shake the beetle off, but I could see clearly that the beetles' mouthparts were like those of mosquitoes, but they were jet black and shiny, and were a full half inch long.

The young master jumped up and down, stomping two beetles to death, and roared in terror, "Old Xu, this isn't the way to do it..."

Huang Zhihua's Type 54 pistol was now useless, truly proving the old saying, "Why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut?" The best way to kill beetles is with a bottle of Gunner brand insecticide, not a pistol. So, Huang Zhihua was now in a very sorry state, but being a soldier, he was well-trained and actually managed to grab the huge backpack and swing it around wildly.

"These are parasites, attacking their hosts!" Huang Zhihua's breathing became rapid.

Host? It must be those four humanoid cockroach monsters? I hurriedly turned around and looked around. When I turned around, I almost bumped into something. When I looked up, I was so scared that my soul almost left my body and my hands and feet went weak.

I don't know when, but the humanoid cockroach monster was already standing in front of me, its claw-like hands outstretched, silently trying to choke me.

The dense swarms of crimson beetles that had clung to its body were gone, and I could clearly see its true form—this should be considered human? At least it should have been human before? But now, its original flesh and blood had turned into rotting, pus-oozing pieces of rotten flesh; I could even see pus dripping from certain parts of its body. Even though I was wearing a gas mask, I could still smell the stench of decaying leaves. Its head was still an insect's face, but its mouth was split open at a bizarre angle, grinning grotesquely, revealing black fangs...

That smile... is just like those who died cursed by the Yellow River Dragon Coffin.

I stood there dumbfounded in the center, terrified. I wanted to run away, but I couldn't move.

"Old Xu?" Huang Zhihua's scream came from beside me. Immediately, a figure pounced on me and kicked the humanoid cockroach monster in front of me hard in the chest and abdomen. I heard a "plop" sound, and the cockroach monster staggered back several steps. Its abdomen was ripped open, pus was flowing out, and it smelled terrible.

But at that moment, a ghastly green shadow suddenly lunged at Huang Zhihua's back. I quickly swung my sword and slashed fiercely at the shadow—

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..." My ancient bronze sword flashed with a cold light, and the pale green ghostly figure disappeared right before my eyes.

"Watch out!" Huang Zhihua shouted. Almost at the same time, he had already picked up his gun. Without the slightest hesitation, the gunshot rang out, and the bullet narrowly missed my scalp.

"Damn it...you're trying to rob and kill me?" I heard the young master's angry curses and the maid's screams from behind me.

"Old Xu... quickly save the young master!" Huang Zhihua cried out in alarm as he faced me.

I hurriedly brandished the ancient bronze sword in my hand and charged towards the young master, shouting at the same time, "Go help the girl..." In fact, I didn't need to say anything; Huang Zhihua had already pounced on the girl like a madman because the two cockroach-like humanoid monsters behind him had blocked her, and one of them, a claw like a bird's claw, was grabbing hard at the girl's head.

"Old Xu...save me..." The young master's voice was filled with undisguised terror. I didn't care about anything else and kept patting the young master's body with both hands. I was wearing gas-resistant plastic gloves, which could protect me from the crimson beetle's attack for the time being.

However, there were simply too many of these crimson beetles that clung to the corpses. My body was quickly covered by many beetles, and as a result, I was unable to help the young master and instead got caught up in it myself.

I looked up and saw Huang Zhihua holding a terrified girl in one hand and a gun in the other, his back against a large stone pillar, locked in a fierce battle with four cockroach-like humanoid monsters.

These cockroach-like humanoid monsters are completely impervious to bullets. When bullets pierce their bodies, at most a large amount of yellowish-white pus will flow out, but it does not hinder their movement in the slightest.

"Oh God... Old Xu, I don't want to die here..." The young master frantically waved his hands, swatting at the crimson beetles on his body.

I could only manage a bitter smile – although we knew that the Shadow Kunlun Wind Eye would be full of traps, we never dreamed it would be this powerful. We had barely entered, and before we even saw what the coffin looked like, we were attacked by these terrifying corpse worms.

Oh no... Now my body is covered in countless corpse worms, just like the young master's. Although we are wearing high-quality water suits, gas masks, and special boots, which can stop these corpse worms for a while, how long can it last?

Ten minutes? Twenty minutes? Or an hour?

Looking up, Huang Zhihua was also in dire straits. He was struggling to deal with three cockroach-like humanoid monsters, and the girl was being chased by one of them, crying as she ran...

Girl... I don't know why, at what could be considered a life-or-death moment, I actually thought of that day in Shahe Town, when I saw something on the girl that I shouldn't have seen, and she actually quietly asked me - "Is it pretty?"

Is it beautiful? I don't know, but when I heard the girl's heartbroken and desperate cries, my mind went blank. I quickly threw myself to the ground, rolled towards the girl, and pushed off with my feet. My target was the cockroach-like humanoid monster chasing it. The bronze ancient sword in my hand flashed with a dazzling cold light as I slashed at the cockroach-like humanoid monster's feet.

With a loud "bang," the cockroach-like humanoid monster, completely unaware of the danger, had its legs severed by my sword and immediately collapsed limply to the ground.

But at the same time—I couldn't help but be stunned... This cockroach-like humanoid monster was still wearing a shoe on one of its feet. Although it was badly corroded, I could vaguely make out that it was probably a pair of sneakers.

The decaying books that appeared in the ancient tomb that had been buried for thousands of years were wearing sneakers, a symbol of modern people. This... I couldn't quite process it for a moment.

"Old Xu, you're really smart." Huang Zhihua's voice came from beside me. I saw him also lying on the ground, holding a gleaming military knife in his hand, slashing at the foot of another cockroach-like humanoid monster.

I was still on the ground when I saw this and immediately understood—whether these were people, corpses, or monsters, as long as their legs were cut off, they would naturally lose their ability to walk, greatly reducing their threat to us. I wasn't being clever at all; I was just worried about the girl and made a mistake in my haste.

Seeing Huang Zhihua do the same, I hurriedly rolled over, aiming at the legs of another cockroach-like humanoid monster. These monsters were, after all, corpses and didn't know how to dodge. We quickly chopped off the legs of all four monsters, and they fell to the ground. Because of my earlier discovery, I was amazed and paid special attention to the other cockroach-like humanoid monster. Unfortunately, its legs were already rotten and it had no shoes, so I couldn't tell anything about it.

After we slashed down the four cockroach-like monsters, their bodies were still writhing and struggling on the ground, but they could no longer attack us. I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and suddenly realized that the crimson beetles on my body seemed to have decreased significantly. A thought flashed through my mind, and I immediately understood. In my continuous rolling on the ground, I had crushed many of the crimson beetles. These beetles usually clung to corpses to survive and possessed extremely potent venom and aggression. However, due to our relatively good protection, the corpses themselves were relatively weak, only their numbers were vast.

The young master imitated me, hurriedly rolling around on the ground. But the kid was blind and rolled next to a cockroach-like humanoid monster. The cockroach-like humanoid monster, whose legs had been cut off by me and Huang Zhihua, was struggling to stand up. Now that it had caught the young master, it held on tightly.