The World Below Surface

They were down to twelve, with four of them not even part of the original group. The rest of the team had died or given up, leaving them to face the horrors of the tomb alone.

They had no idea how much further they had to go before reaching the heart of the maze. And even if they did, there was no guarantee of finding an exit. All they had was their stubborn determination to keep going.

They came to a halt at the edge of a lake of blood. It oozed from the carved walls, filling the basin with a gruesome soup. Human shapes contorted and writhed in the crimson liquid, their screams of agony piercing the air. The blood stood out against the white stone, while eerie green lights danced on the surface and beneath the depths.

"This is the most horrifying thing I've ever witnessed," Jing Tao whispered.

The blood continued to rise until it reached the shore, then abruptly stopped. A putrid stench assaulted their nostrils, causing them to gag.

Lu Yan couldn't tear his eyes away from the blood lake.

He had encountered one before, in the Village of the Heavenly Immortals. He had encountered for the first time in the elevator to the eighteenth floor. And now he was seeing it for the third time, in this accursed place.

What lay within the blood lake?

He felt a strange urge to dive in and find out, but he knew it was too perilous. He forced himself to resist.

The water had stopped rising, for now. The archaeologists took advantage of the lull and rummaged through their bags for paper and pens. They needed to map out their route, before they forgot everything.

But forgetting was easier than remembering. The only thing that remained in their minds was Team Leader Cen's gravelly voice recounting the ancient king's story. Everything else was a hazy blur. They struggled to accurately sketch the recent twists and turns they had taken.

“How about the parts we haven’t seen yet?”

“We’ll have to let the next suckers deal with them.”

As they hastily scribbled, a faint glow floated towards them, capturing their attention as it landed on the paper. They attempted to wipe it away, but instead, it smudged and stuck to their fingers.

“What the hell is this?”

They looked around and saw more green sparks in the air. They were everywhere, like fireflies on steroids.

“Maybe it’s some kind of glowing fungus. But fungus doesn’t have spores like this.”

“Hold on, this could be a good thing. Imagine if someone else comes here with our map and it’s pitch black. They won’t see a thing.... but the paper...”

One of them trailed off, but the others nodded in agreement.

"So you’re saying…”

“Exactly. If it sticks to paper, we can use it to make a glowing map.”

The dimness of the tomb was no match for the team’s determination. They had lost some of their friends along the way, and they were not about to give up now. They stretched out their hands to catch the floating specks of light and gently dabbed them on the paper.

Some of the task force members joined them in their endeavour. They grabbed handfuls of the luminous dust and let the archaeologist who was in charge of the map take some from their fingers to trace the route.

Lu Yan was trying to help too, but he was wary of the strange substance. He didn’t want to touch it directly, so he removed his coat, swung it in the air, and gathered a lot of it before folding it neatly.

But the light in the air was growing stronger, from sparse dots to a thick cloud that threatened to swallow them whole. Lu Yan couldn’t escape it completely, and his bare skin was soon covered with a faint glow. The others were even worse off, looking like walking neon signs.

“Come on, we need to hurry.”

The brightness of the light made them nervous; they had no idea what it was made of or what it could do to them. They rolled up the map and headed for the middle passage that led to the other chambers.

The further they went, the more they felt a strange distortion of reality. It was as if they had left the world of the living and entered a realm of perpetual darkness and doom. A place where the dead ruled and the living were unwelcome.

They had no idea what awaited them at the end of their journey. They only knew they had to keep going.

"Guys, the passage is getting tighter," the leader of the group announced.

He was right. The walls of the crypt were not parallel, but angled inward, forming a huge triangle. The space between them was shrinking with every step.

The others behind him felt the squeeze. The narrow gap that had barely allowed them to walk side by side was now pressing against their shoulders. One of them, a burly man with a bit of a belly, soon found himself stuck. He had been carrying more than his share of the equipment, but now he could not move forward or backward.

"Listen, everyone, just take what you need and leave the rest here," he grunted, trying to wiggle free. "Dump your extra stuff with me. I'll stay here and guard it."

He said it casually, but they all knew the truth. Staying behind in this place was a death sentence.

No one argued. They quietly dropped their backpacks and moved on. The leader paused and waited for them. When they were all out, the chubby man smiled and said, "Well, it can't be helped. My wife has been on my case about losing weight, but I never listened. Now look at me. You guys better come back for me when you're done. I bet I'll be a few pounds lighter by then."

The others hugged him one by one, suppressing their grief, and continued carrying their small bags forward.

They would return.

They had to.

The portly man remained where he was, unzipping his pack and peering at the few stale rolls inside. He grinned and said, "Well, I guess it's time to start that diet!"

Lu Yan led the way second in the front.

The glow that had coated them earlier proved useful, as it helped them spot each other in the gloom. They hugged the wall, brushing against the cold stones on either side, leaving behind faint traces of light that could serve as beacons for those who followed.

The passage was longer than they had expected. Eventually, they had to turn sideways and shuffle forward, holding their backpacks in front of them, inching along the narrowing gap.

"How much longer?" Lu Yan wondered.

The man at the front exhaled, trying to squeeze himself smaller. "No idea."

He had barely spoken when he felt his foot hit empty air, and then he tumbled out.

"We made it, we made it! Hurry up, everyone!"

The others behind him perked up and hastened their steps. Lu Yan, being slender, pushed himself forward. Soon, he too emerged from the passage.

The sight that greeted him was far more horrific and grotesque than anything he had seen before.

Was this really a tomb?

The first one to emerge from the passage stood frozen in shock, tears rolling down his cheeks. His earlier jubilation had vanished without a trace.

Behind them, the walls began to make a noise.

It sounded like... something was shifting, and the floor quivered slightly.

"Get out! Get out now! The walls are moving!" the one who had just escaped yelled back into the passage, reaching out to drag his comrade out.

"Come on! Grab my hand!"

The next one to squeeze out was Jing Tao. He pushed himself hard, and with a powerful pull from Lu Yan, he scraped his shoulder and head against the stone wall, leaving some skin behind.

Then came Yi Yun. She was petite, and after being yanked out, the last man in the line... gave up all hope.

His head was firmly stuck, and they could hear the faint sound of his skull cracking.

"Get... out... Don't look at me..."

The sound of bones breaking could be faintly heard, accompanied by a gush of fresh blood.

One of the survivors, a young woman, collapsed on the floor, crying and screaming in agony.

He wished he could lose consciousness and end his suffering, but the walls were moving too slowly. It was as if they were deliberately tormenting him with their gradual approach.

The others averted their eyes. Lu Yanli remained at the entrance, observing his pitiful state for a moment. He reached into his pocket, took out a small knife, and with a forceful motion, stabbed it straight into the other's throat.

With a final gasp, the person’s chest went still.

“What have you done?”

Fury flashed in one person’s eyes, but the girl intervened, clutching his arm and shaking her head, her voice breaking, “Don’t be angry. He did us a favour.” She glanced at the walls that had almost crushed them, leaving only a narrow gap, and the blood that seeped into the soil, casting a sickly green glow. Despair clouded her eyes.

“Thank you for sparing him the agony; he would have endured so much pain.” The girl whispered.

“Let’s figure out a way to move on from here.”

The first team member to escape let out a bitter sigh, his face etched with despair.

Darkness loomed ahead of them, obscuring their vision. The flashlights they carried barely lit up a small patch around them; beyond that, nothing was visible.

The one who had reached the front first was frozen in horror, his face twisted by a despairing dread that none of the others could fathom.

“What is it?” A voice from behind him asked, breaking the silence. The speaker moved closer, curious and anxious, but as soon as he saw what lay ahead, he gasped and fell silent, his eyes wide with shock.

“This… this can’t be…”

More voices followed, more footsteps, more expressions of disbelief and fear. They all drew near, drawn by a morbid curiosity, only to be repelled by a ghastly sight.

The ground was dark, so the gaping hole where a square had once stood was barely visible in the dim light. The first one who had stepped out of the narrow passage, driven by inertia, instinctively moved and reached the edge, where he had beheld the unthinkable.

In the depths of the hole, a colossal statue lay toppled, its bright red surface gleaming like blood.

It was impossible to gauge the size of the statue, or the age of its origin. It was a monstrous thing, a twisted mockery of life, that filled their minds with words like eerie and distorted.

“Don’t look!” The first one screamed, his eyes bleeding profusely. “Don’t look at it!”

The others quickly averted their gazes, terrified by his warning. One of them reached out to drag him away, but he was stuck, as if glued to the spot, immovable.

Lu Yan had also glimpsed the statue, and felt a surge of blood in his eyes. He swiftly turned his head, but his mind was in chaos, unable to settle for a long time.

A question gnawed at his mind: why was there a statue of that thing here?

He had been led to believe that the two were enemies, locked in an eternal conflict. But then, how could he explain the presence of that "god" in the tomb of the "king"?

It made no sense. It contradicted everything he had learned.

Lu Yan felt a surge of emotion, a mix of anger, fear, and curiosity. He did something reckless, something he knew he would regret. He moved to the edge of the pit, and looked down.

He saw it, all of it.

The statue was the same, unmistakably.

The mark under his collarbone sent a shiver down his spine, and blood spurted from his eyes. Lu Yan jerked back, stumbling a few steps.

"Lu Yan? What happened to you?" Yi Yun ran to his side, alarmed by his sudden movement. She saw his condition, and panicked. "Why did you look at it? How are your eyes?"

He closed his eyes, blood dripping from them, obscuring the old scar. His voice was steady, as if nothing was wrong. "It's fine."

He stood still, enduring the agony that pierced his brain, but feeling a strange relief inside. He smiled faintly, "It's fine, I only used one eye."

Lu Yan hoped that his injured eye would have a minimal impact on the other eye, allowing him to endure until he reached the main burial chamber without losing his sight completely.

Yi Yun was at a loss for words. She stared at him, trying to form a coherent sentence. "Now, what do you..." She trailed off, unable to finish.

Blood seeped from Lu Yan's wounds, staining his skin and clothes. He ripped a shred of fabric from his tattered shirt and tied it over his blinded eye. His sight was impaired, but the darkness rendered it irrelevant. A surge of urgency gripped him, compelling him to reach the main tomb chamber; a more powerful impulse than any he had ever experienced.

He made his way towards a group of team members, who were tracing the contours of the area with glowing spores. He crouched beside them and said, "Let me join in."

The green light cast a sinister hue over the scene, and the team members looked strange and unnatural, but Lu Yan ignored them. His sole focus was to unravel the mystery of this ancient tomb.

As they drew, a mirthless laugh escaped Lu Yan's lips in the dark.

This map... was it not identical to the one that hung in the village chief's house, when the previous batch of mission-takers had arrived? He had wondered then who had drawn that map, and now he realised he had contributed to it.

With Lu Yan's help, they finished the map swiftly and moved on.

The square hole ahead was inaccessible. The team member who had reached the edge was already a dried-up corpse.

Death had become a familiar sight to them, and they had lost their fear of it. They had found a way to cross the square by using a narrow ledge along the edge.

This time, nothing strange happened. They advanced along the flat path, without losing anyone else.

"We're almost there," the temporary leader of the team announced with joy. "We had mapped out the underground palace from the outside before, and we estimated that, unless there are any more detours up or down, we should reach our destination in less than half an hour!"

These words injected a dose of excitement into the team, who were weary and wounded. They all cheered, and even Yi Yun and the others joined in the celebration.

It had been too hard. They had been lucky to survive, but the endless torment in the dark was worse than any previous missions.

The last flashlight in the team flickered again, and the captain turned it off with a gesture: "We all have fluorescent material on us. I suggest we save the light for the main burial chamber."

No one disagreed. They had abandoned most of their supplies in their escape, and they had no electronic devices left; otherwise, they would not have to draw a map with a pen.

Lu Yan requested a piece of paper from a team member.

He smeared the paper with fluorescent ink, then folded it with care. It became a lantern, a lantern that shone brightly green.

The acting team leader snatched it with eagerness, saying, "That's brilliant! We're lucky to have you guys on this journey."

He looked joyful, but Lu Yan recoiled when he saw his face.

The other person's face, also coated in green fluorescent ink, was rotting. But he did not notice, only laughing.

"Now we can go on with a lantern," the acting team leader said, lifting the lantern in his hand and leading the way.

The first to realise something was wrong was the female team member who was drawing the map. She felt a tickle on her skin, scratched it, and found bits of flesh under her nails, with a greasy texture and a foul smell.

She hesitated but kept quiet to avoid alarming her teammates.

Soon after, the rest of the team also felt the problem. They had the same idea, but to not slow down their teammates, no one said a word.

It was... something was wrong with those green fluorescent spores they used as ink!

They could not deny what they saw. A group of people trudged through the dark, following the sinister light of a green paper lantern that seemed intent on leading them to a dreadful fate.

The new captain who held the lantern felt a prickling in his palm.

He sensed something was off with this thing, but he had his teammates behind him, and he could not turn back.

The group was small, no more than ten people, moving forward with careful steps. Any part of their bodies that touched the phosphorescence felt scratchy, and soon, small pieces began to drop off.

The feeling of scratching seemed to come from deep inside their bones, as if something was trying to break out from within.

Lu Yan's right fingertips were itching severely, and his hand had also been exposed to a lot of it when he helped draw the map earlier. The parts of his face that he had touched by accident were no better. But he always managed to bear it, ignoring it and only going forward. Despite his attempts, the flesh on his right hand was slowly flaking away.

At first, he felt nothing, no sensation at all. But soon, it turned into a painful drilling, aching and itching. He stifled the urge to make a noise, but others could not resist any longer, screaming in agony.

"Those fluorescent agents are poisonous. We didn't notice it before."

"Keep going, there's no other choice now. We can only move forward."

"Come on! We have to keep going, we've faced all kinds of challenges; are we scared of pain now?"

Team members cheered each other on, constantly encouraging others while moaning in pain, continuing to advance.

But... it was not just about pain.

Lu Yan stretched out his hand, now nothing but white bones.

With his remaining eye, he could clearly see that something was crawling out from the green-speckled areas on the hand bones.

Gradually, something green, like a young sprout, emerged from between the finger bones. It wiggled a bit and quickly grew.

It was a mushroom.

Illuminated fungi.

Once one blooms, a second follows, then a third. Slim, elongated mushrooms emerge from human bones, growing unabated.

"This isn't poison, it's parasitic!"

"What's the name of this type of fungus? Does anyone know?"

"I don't know, never seen anything like it."

"I've heard of some fungi that glow, but never seen this kind. Maybe it's a new species!"

One team member suggested, "Can we pull them out?"

Lu Yan cautioned, "It's probably best not to!"

One archaeologist grabbed hold of one, but hearing Lu Yan's words, she let go. Only the woman who had lost her loved one earlier smiled, "Let me try this experiment; you guys must record it."

With that, she disregarded the others' dissuasion, seized a thin mushroom growing on her face, and forcefully yanked it out.

"Ah—"

A shriek of agony rent the air, as she crumpled to the ground, her body shrivelling as if all the bones had been sucked out of her. On the surface, countless thin fungi burst forth, digging their way out, draining her life force, growing and spreading their glowing caps.

A faint light radiated from the fungal cluster on her corpse.

"Come on! Don't let her sacrifice be in vain!"

The captain cried out, his eyes brimming with tears.

The others bit back their sobs and anguish, moving on.

They had all been infected. They knew their time was running out. It was only a matter of how much.

They had to find the main tomb!

As they trudged on, another team member stumbled, falling with a loud thud.

He gasped, "I can't go on anymore. You all must get out."

He thrust his backpack into Jing Tao's hands. "Though I don't know where you came from, but I'm grateful."

Jing Tao tried to smile, but it came out as a grimace. He reached for the backpack, but his legs gave way, and he fell to the ground, joining him.

He said, lying on his back, "I'm finished too."

The pain was so intense that he felt nothing else. He surprised himself by how long he had lasted.

He laughed weakly and looked at Yi Yun. "You need to find it. The Pisces jade pendant. If I don't get it, I'll die too. And you have to go back to your daughter."

He paused, then asked, "Hey, where's Wang Peng Fei?"

Yi Yun's face was wet with tears and green fluid. "Don't you remember? Wang Peng Fei... he's gone..."

Jing Tao whispered, "Oh, yeah... he had it worse than me..."

His voice faded.

"I wish I could go back... see my mom... I miss her so much..."

As tears streamed down her face in silent anguish, Yi Yun felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Lu Yan, who had managed to stand by her side despite his horrific injuries. He bent down and grabbed the backpack, the only thing they had left from their expedition.

"Let's go."

He was the least injured one among them, but his luck had run out long ago. The fungus had eaten away almost half of his flesh, leaving behind white bones that sprouted more green mushrooms. His blood, mixed with a greenish tinge, dripped from his wounds and stained his clothes.

"It's just us now," he said, his voice raspy and weak. "But we made it. We're at the main tomb chamber."

Yi Yun turned her head slowly, her mind still in a haze. She could barely comprehend his words.

"We're... we're here?"

She couldn't believe it, but then she saw it. A massive structure loomed ahead of them, shrouded in mist and mystery. It had to be the main tomb chamber, the goal of their quest.

"We did it... we did it!" She felt a surge of energy, a flicker of hope. She got up and stumbled forward.

With faltering steps, Lu Yan and Yi Yun climbed the stairs, leaning on each other for support. They had endured unimaginable horrors to reach this point, but there was no sign of them now. Only an ancient underground palace, silent and still, awaited them in the darkness.

They reached the doorway, where they paused momentarily. They resembled two broken dolls, with twisted and mangled limbs, barely holding together. Even if someone were to assemble them, they would fail to create a complete doll. They stretched out their hands and pushed the door open, hoping for a miracle.

A faint light greeted them, piercing through the gloom.

It was too bright, too sudden. They flinched and closed their eyes, unable to bear the contrast.