Li Jinlong heave-ho and forcefully moved the stone slab aside; no corpse worms escaped from the cave entrance.
People around rushed over, shining their lights at the cave entrance. They peered down, but the entrance couldn't accommodate too many people; it could only hold two or three people peering down.
Li Jinlong first extended the lamp down, looked around, shook his head and said, "There are no corpse worms in the stone chamber!" After saying that, he lowered the lamp down from the cave entrance, and then stuck his head into the cave entrance to examine the entire stone chamber.
Volume One: The First Signs of Growth, Chapter 111: The Secret of the Stone Coffin
Apart from the ashes of the burned clothes, nothing else in the two stone chambers was of any use.
Li Jinlong listened carefully to the cave entrance for a while, and after confirming that there was no sound, he looked up and said, "No sound, no food, and the corpse worms are gone!"
After packing his luggage, especially the bag of treasure, Li Jinlong asked, "There's only this one path, and I'm going to take it. Anyone want to come with me?"
They were so hungry and thirsty that they felt like they were going to die. But they were all determined to try, and immediately most of them picked up their bags.
Zhou Xuan probed the ice energy into the stone chamber below, but found nothing. The ice energy couldn't reach very far either, but he inexplicably sensed a threat, a hint of danger, and couldn't help but say, "We can't go down!"
Li Jinlong turned his head and said, "Staying here will only lead to starvation and thirst. Going down there gives us a chance to rush back to the bottom of the cave and escape. What can you do by staying here and guarding it?"
Of course, nothing could be done, but Zhou Xuan clearly sensed danger. For a moment, he couldn't say anything else.
However, Wei Haihong, Wei Xiaoqing, and Lan Gaofeng all trusted Zhou Xuan's intuition. After hesitating for a moment, they decided not to go with him.
Fu Ying naturally wouldn't care about anything; wherever Zhou Xuan went, she would go; and if Zhou Xuan stayed, she would stay.
The two old professors also decided to leave. Staying here meant they had no rights; they weren't even given food or drink. Going back with them was the only right thing to do.
Li Yong and Fang Jianjun discussed it and decided that Fang Jianjun would go out to fetch reinforcements, while Li Yong would stay behind to protect the Blue leadership.
The other two injured, Li Quan and Wang Sheng, also decided to leave. Li Quan was taken care of by his brother-in-law, Wang Dagui, while Wang Sheng was carried by his brother, Wang Qiang.
Zhou Xuan couldn't stop them, so he could only help send them down one by one. Li Jinlong and Wang Qiang went down first. Then Wang Dagui and Li Yong helped Wang Sheng and Li Quan down, followed by Qin Zeng, Yang Guang, and Fang Jianjun. Wang Dagui went down next.
After they all went down, Zhou Xuan held a powerful flashlight and shone it down into the stone chamber. He had a bad feeling about this.
Wang Qiang helped Wang Sheng, Wang Dagui helped Li Quan, Li Jinlong and Fang Jianjun were in front, and the two old men were behind, carrying lanterns as they went into the passage.
Zhou Xuan looked anxiously into the stone chamber. Although these people were not related to him, it was still unpleasant to watch them fall into danger. However, there was really no other way. Staying here was practically waiting to die. Leaving did offer a chance of escape, but staying meant there was absolutely no chance.
Zhou channeled the icy energy into the underground stone chamber, extending it as far as possible into the passage. At this moment, he genuinely hoped they could escape; perhaps the people outside the cave could come up with a solution. However, thinking about the ferocity of those corpse worms, he couldn't help but shake his head inwardly. The most terrifying thing about these corpse worms was their sheer number; they seemed endless, without any limit.
As Zhou Xuan was thinking this, the ice energy suddenly sensed something, and his nerves tensed. He immediately channeled his ice energy to its fullest extent, and sure enough, he saw Fang Jianjun and Li Jinlong running swiftly into the stone chamber through the passage. Then he heard cries for help coming from the passage: "Help! Uncle San, Uncle San!" The voices then stopped, followed by the voices of Wang Sheng and the two old professors.
The cries for help were mixed, rising and falling, extremely shrill.
Zhou Xuan quickly shone the lamp into the stone chamber, and sure enough, Li Jinlong and Wang Qiang were the first to run back in. Fang Jianjun and his two companions were followed by a swarm of corpse worms.
Fang Jianjun was exceptionally agile. He darted to the middle of the stone chamber and leaped up. Li Yong and Zhou Xuan reached out and grabbed his hands. Together they pulled him up, but at that moment, Fang Jianjun's body sank, and neither Li Yong nor Zhou Xuan could hold him back.
Fang Jianjun leaped up and grabbed Wang Qiang around the waist. The combined weight of the two caught Zhou Xuan and Li Yongcui off guard, and they lost their grip, both falling to the ground. They were instantly buried by the overwhelming swarm of corpse worms.
Li Yong shouted loudly, "Jianjun, get up quickly!"
Li Jinlong was the next to leap up. Li Yong and Zhou Xuan grabbed his hands and lifted him up. When they looked quickly into the stone chamber again, Fang Jianjun and Wang Qiang were writhing and struggling among the corpse worms, their outstretched hands and feet covered in blood, almost revealing the white bones. Less than twenty seconds later, they were silent.
The corpse worms made a rustling sound and climbed up the wall again. Looking at the way they came, it was the same cave entrance where Zhou Xuan and his group had come from.
Zhou Xuan simply sighed, then put the stone cover back in its original place, leaving not a single gap.
Li Jinlong was somewhat stunned.
He was the one who suggested taking this only way out, to gamble and fight, but in the end, they failed and lost seven lives!
Li Jinlong sat silently. The group of people who were just a moment ago were now all gone, leaving only him. The other seven had all turned into a pile of bones.
Zhou Xuan had no words of comfort to say to Ren Nian. Everyone knew in their hearts that there was nothing more to say to comfort them.
Either way, I'm going to die, but I don't want to die in such a disgusting or difficult way.
But often, things are beyond our control, and we have no choice in them.
We've run out of food and drink.
Turn off the high-powered lights, leaving only one on.
Wei Xiaoqing gently tugged at Fu Ying's clothes, blushed and shook her head. Zhou Xuan thought she was hungry and had nothing to say to persuade her.
But then Zhou Xuan saw Fu Ying blush and stand up. He immediately understood that she needed to relieve herself. After thinking for a moment, he pointed to the back of the large stone coffin.
Wei Xiaoqing pulled Fu Ying to her feet, and although Fu Ying blushed, she went with her.
Upon reaching the large stone coffin, Fu Ying turned off the powerful lights, plunging the stone palace into complete darkness, where nothing could be seen.
Zhou Xuan smiled faintly and bent down to sit down. The moment he sat down, he heard Wei Xiaoqing scream, her voice filled with boundless terror!
Zhou Xuan sprang to his feet as if by reflex, shouting, "What is it?" as he ran toward the large stone coffin.
As Zhou Xuan ran closer to the large stone coffin, Fu Ying had already turned on the high-powered light.
Zhou Xuan watched as Wei Xiaoqing stood trembling behind the stone coffin, her pants still pulled up, revealing a dazzlingly white bare skin.
Behind Wei Xiaoqing was the police officer's corpse, from which Li Jinlong and his men had cut off and eaten a lot of flesh; it now looked extremely horrific.
Fu Ying quickly stepped between the two to block them, and Wei Xiaoqing hurriedly pulled up her pants.
I was just a little frightened, nothing really happened.
Zhou Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. In his nervousness, he had released his icy aura. Just as he was about to withdraw it, he suddenly sensed something strange about the large stone coffin and paused in surprise.