Daomu Biji: Restart

This crevice really was somewhat different from the others. I had studied geology, so I knew that these toothlike crystalline protrusions occurred when the stone contained borax. This kind of ore was sometimes very similar to human teeth, so it gave off the feeling that teeth were growing out of the rock.

I pulled out my mountaineering pick—I usually didn’t like to carry this thing since it was so heavy, but my only weapon last time was my flashlight, so I decided to suck it up and bring it this time—and hit these stone teeth until a gap appeared. Now it looked like a mouth that had some teeth knocked out of it.

Fatty and I were each carrying bronze pieces, which were actually very heavy, so dragging them into the crevice was also a hindrance.

When I squeezed in, I could see that it would be a little more spacious inside. Fatty used his feet to push me about a dozen feet in, but then I got stuck in the crevice and couldn't move forward or backward.

Finally, Fatty used a flying kick to break me free, but I found that my nose was against the wall in front of me while the back of my head was against the wall behind me. I was completely stuck inside now, and even if I wanted to move, I could only manage the slightest movement.

The gap was so narrow that if I turned my head too quickly, the tip of my nose and the back of my head would simultaneously be scraped by the rock walls in front and behind me.

This kind of situation was almost like having a broken hand and foot. Even a dedicated mosquito could slowly kill me.

The gap in front of me showed no signs of improvement, either. Brother Gan Shan, who was right in front of me, took a few steps forward cautiously. Even he could barely look back at me in this narrow space.

I continued following him forward. It took about fifteen minutes to move about ten meters, and I was so tired that I felt as if dark circles had appeared under my eyes.

I looked back at the entrance where Fatty's flashlight was shining on me. Considering how there was no end in sight up ahead, this ray of light almost felt like the sunshine outside.

"What’s the plan?" Fatty shouted from ten meters away.

I wanted to withdraw, but it was even harder because the texture of the stone felt like small barbs against my skin. I put down my flashlight, eased myself back a bit, and then picked up my flashlight again, ready to try and back out of this crevice.

I would have to follow Xiuxiu's idea and continue moving forward, because at the rate I was going, it would take me two years to travel ten kilometers in this crevice.

But at the very moment I lifted my flashlight up, I saw a long-haired woman at the end of this crevice who also appeared to be stuck like me.

She was at the end of my flashlight’s reach, which was about thirty meters away. I was startled and confused, but then the woman suddenly disappeared.

My whole body was covered in a cold sweat. It wasn’t that I was afraid of the long-haired woman, I just knew that if anything happened while I was in this trapped state, I’d definitely die.

At the same time, I saw Brother Gan Shan looking at that place very quietly. I could tell that he was very nervous.

At this age, I no longer believed in hallucinations.

As I attempted to withdraw from the crevice very carefully, I tried to remember if I had seen this long-haired woman before. I thought it was the female corpse from the censer, but she should have been flattened after falling from that height. How could she appear here now?

I didn’t dare put my flashlight down, but this kind of bright flashlight was very heavy and it was difficult to hold with one hand. After retreating about three or four meters, my hand was too sore to lift it anymore.

Fatty's flashlight was still shining in, but my body was blocking the light, which caused an absolute shadow to form. "Smash the entrance a bit more,” I said to Fatty. “Smash all those teeth."

"What's wrong?"

"I think if I put my flashlight down and raise it again, something I don't want to see will appear in my flashlight's range."

Fatty started knocking at the ore without saying a word. I tried to endure it until I couldn't anymore, but my tired arm eventually lowered, plunging the area in front of me into darkness.

I shook my sore joints out and then lifted the flashlight up again.

This time, nothing happened.

Thankfully, I didn’t see that long-haired woman crawling towards me bit by bit in the crevice. This time I was blessed; next time, I might not be so lucky.

Eventually, I was pulled out of the crevice and Brother Gan Shan was tied to my chest again. Completely exhausted, I patted Xiuxiu and said to her, "It's impossible to track them in this crevice. Let's go down and follow your plan." I looked inside the gap again. I couldn’t see anything, but I knew there had to be something inside.

I didn’t know how they got in there, but I’d definitely die if I went in any further.

"No one should descend directly to the bottom or get close to the crevices. They should first descend to about ten meters from the bottom and burn it with flame-throwers," I said to Xiuxiu. "The main goal is to see whether that female corpse is there or not, and whether the snake inside is there or not."

Xiuxiu looked at me. "Why would we have flamethrowers?"

"You can just make a few yourself with gasoline and pesticides," I said to her.

We continued to descend until we reached the area where the corpses from before were hanging. Fatty shot the ropes until they broke and then the corpses fell. Not only did we not know what condition these bodies were in, but we were afraid to find out what happened to them.

After continuing to descend to a height of ten meters, I hovered in the air and carefully looked below with my flashlight.

I immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

There were several broken bee corpses below, but I didn’t see the female corpse.

You definitely wouldn’t be fine if you were to fall from this height. In fact, your body would basically turn into a pile of mush.

This female corpse didn't fall to the ground, which meant that the special snake in her body somehow didn't fall to its death and was now free.

There would definitely be some entanglements in the future considering how cause and effect was like an arrow that had been shot from the bow.

To make a long story short, we burned the bottom with gasoline. We used so much, in fact, that the air temperature below reached at least a hundred degrees Celsius. When we finally went down, there were no dead bodies left since they had all been burned to ash.

I wasn’t worried about snakes hiding in the rock crevices as we waited for the fire to die down, and soon, the mules, luggage, and other dogs came down.

When Brother Gan Shan landed, he immediately took the other dogs and began patrolling the area. I observed them for a while. In terms of hearing and smell, the Wu family's dogs would greatly improve our range of detection.

Their sense of smell was millions of times better than humans—well, maybe; I haven't investigated it—while their hearing was sixteen times better. Dogs had average eyesight, but their range of vision was 270 degrees. Moreover, dogs were dusk animals. This meant that they were most comfortable in the dim light at dusk, which was exactly the kind of environment we were in with our flashlights.

I felt a little relieved when I didn't see them alert to anything.

"Do you really want to stop looking?" Fatty asked me.

"Sometimes, making a decision is more important than making the wisest decision," I said to him.

The facts were here; we had to make a decision now.

Wen Binghui came down, but Director Tie didn't. Doctor Xiao and all the others also came down one right after another. I told them that they should turn their attention to the dogs first whenever strange things started to happen.

"Do you know how many people in the last team came out of here alive?" Fatty asked them.

I noticed that everyone who came down seemed indifferent. Fatty continued, "I think those who can go up should go up. There’s a good chance that you’ll die before you can spend this money."

Doctor Xiao looked at me and said, "Isn't there a rumor in the business? If you haven't followed Wu Xie underground, then you’re not considered a true grave robber."

When I looked at her, she added, "You’re wrong if you think we’re here for the money. No one here is short of money."

I sighed and motioned for them to stay close to the people with the bronze pieces. As the group continued to move forward, Wen Binghui came and stood next to me. This time, we all had a crutch, so it looked like we were a little more relaxed.

"How far do you think it is to the next point where you can reach the surface?" He asked me.

I looked at the endless darkness in front of me and said, "Don't think about this kind of thing. Just keep moving forward like a fool. It’s the lucky fools who will make it to the end."

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*heavy breathing* 6 more chapters….