The story of Rose starts with being a brother

Chapter 544 Heavenly Palace on the Clouds (10) The Death of Zeng Xiaoxian?

"Sister Yifei, what's wrong?!"

Just as Hu Yifei was shouting at the hole Zeng Xiaoxian had fallen into, Tang Youyou and her group arrived from behind.

Hu Yifei turned around and said in a panic, "Zeng Xiaoxian... he fell down!"

"what?"

Everyone was shocked to hear this and immediately started calling out Zeng Xiaoxian's name at the cave entrance.

However, after only two shouts, the flashlight shone on the dense swarm of centipedes rushing towards them from all sides.

"What should we do? There are more and more of these things!" Guan Gu Shenqi kept smashing the swarming insects on the ground with his samurai sword.

Now, not only were they crawling on the ground, but even more were falling from above. Everyone was panicking, protecting their heads and swatting at the insects crawling on their bodies.

Even though Hu Yifei possesses extraordinary martial arts skills, she is utterly powerless against these disgusting little creatures.

Just as everyone was going crazy, a lamp suddenly lit up in the distance with a "snap".

The people who were swatting the insects hadn't even reacted yet, and they only breathed a sigh of relief when all the insects on the ground crawled towards the lamp in the distance.

"Sand centipedes are attracted to warm things; they generate warmth from warm objects. Don't let your body become the warmest thing around you."

Xinling's voice came, and when everyone looked over, they saw her running over with an umbrella and Dali by her side.

Upon hearing this, Lu Ziqiao and Meijia quickly ran to the nearby lamp slaves and lit them.

In the tombs of ancient kings and nobles, stone lamps or candlesticks were often carved into the shape of servants for lighting purposes. The stone figures would either hold or carry the lamp trays, and these were called lamp slaves.

Although Wen Sheng had previously said that lighting the lamp might cause the ice cave to collapse due to the rising temperature, there was no time to worry about that now.

As the lamp was lit, the centipedes on the ground climbed up without hesitation to surround the flames, crackling and popping as they were burned.

It has a sense of moths flying into a flame.

After temporarily resolving the centipede crisis, Hu Yifei hurriedly went to the cave entrance and called out to Zeng Xiaoxian.

"Zeng Xiaoxian fell into a hole, I have to go down and find him!"

Hu Yifei looked anxious and wanted to jump directly into the cave, but Guan Gu and Youyou quickly pulled her back, saying, "Sister Yifei, calm down. The situation down there is unknown. You can't just go down like that!"

"I can't control that much anymore!"

After breaking free from the two men, Hu Yifei was about to jump down into the cave again, but suddenly a gust of wind blew by and a lamp not far away went out.

"Wait a minute, Sister Yifei, tie the rope up, and we'll help you pull yourself down."

Unaware of what was happening, the others were still preparing for Hu Yifei to go down into the cave.

Xinling frowned. She noticed that the lamp had been extinguished, but she wasn't sure if the centipedes had put out the flame when they surrounded it.

"There's something there!"

But then Dali suddenly spoke up.

Just as she finished speaking, another lamp went out.

Even the slowest of the others realized what was happening, and Hu Yifei, who was preparing to go down into the cave, looked around warily.

"What's going on? Why are the lights off?"

Guan Gu gripped his katana, nervously scanning his surroundings.

"By the way, where's Wensheng? Hasn't he caught up yet?" Meijia asked, equally anxious.

"The uncle said he'd go close that door," Dali explained, then looked worriedly at the dark hall behind him.

After a few seconds, seeing that there was no other movement around them except for the rustling sounds of the centipedes that made their scalps tingle, the group breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Just as Lü Ziqiao was about to relight the two extinguished lamps, the flame of the third lamp suddenly flickered.

A shadow loomed in and out of sight in the firelight.

This put everyone else who had been watching on edge on high alert.

"It looks like a person?" Dali said.

"Could there be other people who have entered the main hall?"

"Who goes there? State your name!"

Hu Yifei called out, but received no response.

I shone the flashlight in that direction, but apart from the insects that were still crawling toward the lamp slave, I didn't see any other living creatures.

"Could...could there really be a ghost in this tomb?" Mika asked, her voice distorted with nervousness.

"Mika, stop talking, the more you talk, the scarier I get," Guan Gu said tremblingly, gripping his katana.

At this moment, Lu Ziqiao suddenly remembered something and quickly put down the backpack on his back and took out two things from it.

"Ziqiao, what are you doing?"

"Wasn't it supposed to be about black donkey hooves and sticky rice zombies?"

"..."

People had only listened to this before, and didn't really believe it was true, but in the current situation, they had no choice but to try it as a last resort.

So the group stood back to back in a circle and cautiously moved closer to that side.

We can't stay here any longer; we can't just stay like this forever, especially since Hu Yifei is in a hurry to go down and rescue Zeng Xiaoxian.

However, just as everyone got a little closer and the flashlight shone on the lamp again, everyone held their breath.

"Oh my god, Lady Gaga!" Meijia's legs went weak and she almost fell over.

"Clang!" Guan Gu's katana fell to the ground with a crisp sound, but he felt stiff all over and had no strength to pick it up.

Tang Youyou stared wide-eyed, her expression blank, and exclaimed, "My dear, what... what is this thing?"

No one knew how to describe what was in front of them; a "huge" centipede was wrapped around the lamp in front of them.

This was no ordinary creature; it was at least three meters long, with countless long legs hanging down. It was wrapped around the lamp slave, with half of its body raised. Its long tentacles and venomous fangs swayed gently in the air, as if absorbing the gas evaporating from the lamp oil.

Moreover, unlike the green eyes of ordinary centipedes, the eyes and tentacles of this giant centipede glow red.

At this moment, everyone suddenly thought of the centipede dragons they had seen in the murals before. No wonder the dragons worshipped by the Dongxia people looked like this. It turned out that there were real objects to refer to them!

"Back up quickly."

Cyndi was terrified, but she forced herself to remain calm and signaled everyone to back away.

However, what they feared most came to pass. Not long after everyone retreated, the lamp slave that was entangled by the giant centipede went out.

Then, in the darkness, two bright red eyes looked in this direction.

"Now that the lights are out, the warmest thing in that hall... is it us?"

Someone suddenly said something that made the already tense atmosphere even worse.

"Run away..."

"oops!"

Lu Ziqiao had only uttered two words when his footing gave way and he fell into the hole.

It turned out that everyone was so focused on the big guy over there that they didn't notice they had already walked to the edge of the big hole.

When Lu Ziqiao fell, he grabbed at something haphazardly and pulled his aunt down with him.

"long!"

Guan Gu shouted, but before anyone could react, the two red dots not far away rushed over.

At the same time, there were countless tiny centipedes covering the ground.

"Oh no, they're coming!"

"Quickly, light the lamp!"

"You can't order it!"

Just as everyone was frantically trying to light the lamps, Wen Sheng's voice came, and then they saw a dark shadow flash in the beam of the flashlights. The giant centipede in front of them, which had raised half of its body, let out a mournful cry.

Following the light, Xinling noticed that a dagger had been stuck in the head of that big guy, and green liquid was flowing down from it.

"Brother Wensheng!"

Xinling called out, but Wen Sheng didn't have time to reminisce. He stared at the "centipede" in front of him and said, "There's something in that lamp that attracts these insects. If you light it, it will attract even more big ones. You guys burn a piece of clothing from your bags and throw it out."

Looking at the large creature in front of him, with a dagger stuck in its head, howling in pain but also displaying ferocity, Wen Sheng frowned. Killing it wouldn't be difficult for him, but once it died, even more insects would crawl over.

He had already confirmed this when he closed the stone gate.

These guys are also interested in the corpses of their own kind!
The guy who had been stabbed was clearly targeting him. Wen Sheng turned around and saw that everyone was about to put away their clothes, so he picked up the knife that Guan Gu had dropped on the ground.

Although it's not sharpened, having a handy tool will do. The other party's juices don't bother me, but they're disgusting and will attract other insects.

"Damn, what kind of quality is this clothing? It's so hard to light! I can't even get it on my lighter!"

Hu Yifei's angry shouts came from behind, but Wen Sheng couldn't care less; the giant centipede in front of him had already charged forward. Then it flew back, losing several legs in the process.

"What the heck? Am I blind?" Meijia, who was tearing at her clothes with her teeth, was stunned when she saw Wensheng kick the thing back.

Guan Gu and Hu Yifei were busy lighting the fire and didn't notice this scene, but Dali, who was helping to drive away the insects crawling on the ground, saw it and his eyes widened in surprise.

Xinling pulled out toilet paper and a bottle of Bacardi from her bag: "Light this first, then use the alcohol to set the clothes on fire."

On the other side, the giant centipede that Wen Sheng kicked back was probably a little confused. After turning over, it didn't rush to charge again.

A few seconds later it let out a hiss, and then a pair of glowing red eyes appeared in the distance.

Wen Sheng's heart sank slightly. He turned around and asked, "Is it lit yet?"

"It's on fire! It's on fire!"

After fiddling around for a while and finally managing to set the clothes on fire, Hu Yifei quickly shouted.

Upon hearing this, Wen Sheng hurriedly ran back, took the clothes that had just caught fire, and after thinking for a moment, took the half-empty bottle of Bacardi as well.

Seeing the two giant centipedes roaring and about to charge again, Wen Sheng tore off a piece of his burning sleeve and threw the remaining burning clothes onto the giant centipede that had just been injured.

Sure enough, even the giant centipede that had lived for thousands of years could not withstand the scorching heat of the flames and began to writhe in agony.

Anyone who frequently plays with burning clothes knows that burning clothes is different from burning paper. Paper burns to ash and then quickly goes out, but clothes, which contain synthetic fibers, don't just carbonize into ash when they encounter fire; they melt, like dripping "flame glue." Getting burned like that is incredibly intense, and it's not easy to extinguish.

The giant centipede that's currently on fire is suffering the same fate.

Soon a new, large, warm spot appeared in the main hall, and the countless centipedes on the ground changed direction and crawled towards their "ancestor".

Another giant centipede stopped there, seemingly hesitating about where to find warmth first.

However, Wen Sheng didn't give it much time to think. He rushed over with his constantly dripping sleeve, and after cutting off the legs in front of it, he smashed half a bottle of Bacardi on its head, and finally threw the burning sleeve on top of it.

Soon, the centipedes that hadn't climbed onto the first "ancestor" turned around and started climbing onto it.

Upon seeing this, the people behind him breathed a sigh of relief.

"Fortunately, Wen Sheng arrived in time."

But Hu Yifei quickly realized something and said anxiously, "That's right, Zeng Xiaoxian and the others are still in the cave! We have to go rescue them!"

"Yes, I have to go save Youyou!" The group stood anxiously in front of the cave entrance.

Wen Sheng, who had rushed over, already knew what had just happened. After recalling the plot, he said, "Let's go down too. This seems to be a slope. We have to go and rescue them no matter what."

Hearing Wen Sheng's words, the group felt much more at ease, and with his support, they were no longer so afraid.

Without further ado, everyone checked their equipment and wrapped themselves up from head to toe to avoid getting their heads rubbed raw and bleeding on the slope when they went down.

Once everything was ready, Wen Sheng once again led the way, carrying Dali as he slid down into the cave. The others glanced at the two billowing flames in the main hall and then followed him into the cave.

Compared to Zeng Xiaoxian and his group who were caught off guard and fell and were left dizzy, the group, now prepared, managed to slide down to the bottom of the main hall without serious injury, despite some bruises.

"Are you all alright?" Hu Yifei, who was the last to come down, asked.

“Yes,” Guan Gu’s voice rang out. “If you get off my back, I’ll be fine.”

"..."

After all, the opening was only so wide, and when Hu Yifei came down, she landed directly on Guan Gu, experiencing the feeling of being a human cushion.

After regaining their composure, the group finally had time to assess their surroundings. However, as soon as they shone their flashlights, a chilling sensation, even more intense than when they had previously encountered a swarm of centipedes, washed over them.

"So...so many...people," Chen Meijia stammered.

To be precise, it wasn't people, it was many corpses.

What appeared before everyone's eyes at this moment were layers of protrusions like terraced fields, and on these protrusions, almost neatly arranged, were ancient corpses of bluish-purple color, wrapped in ice.

The ancient corpses were laid out in layers, so densely packed that the end could not be seen.

They had just escaped from the centipede swarm when they fell into a pile of dead bodies.

Guan Gu Shenqi asked, his teeth chattering, "Youyou...where are they?"

Only then did everyone realize that Zeng Xiaoxian, Tang Youyou, and Lu Ziqiao, who had fallen earlier, had disappeared.

……

Ten minutes ago.

"Ouch!"

"Ouch!"

As the sound of two heavy objects falling rang out, Lu Ziqiao and Tang Youyou let out two more painful groans.

"Huh? It doesn't seem to hurt that much?"

"Of course it doesn't hurt when you step on me, Auntie!"

"..."

Tang Youyou quickly got off Lu Ziqiao's back, then said irritably, "Who told you to pull me off too? If you're going to die, you'll drag me down with you! You have no conscience!"

"hiss……"

Having been thrown and stepped on, Lu Ziqiao was in a bit of a throbbing pain and couldn't say anything to refute it.

A few seconds later, just as he had calmed down, Tang Youyou suddenly screamed and stepped on his foot again.

"Ouch! Auntie, you're going to kill me!"

Shh, look ahead!

Tang Youyou held up a flashlight and said in a terrified tone.

"What's wrong? Why are you so startled!"

Coming to his senses, Lü Ziqiao looked up and, upon seeing the countless corpses, screamed, "Holy crap!"

"W-w ...

Tang Youyou couldn't answer the question. She was quite frightened herself, but having played many dead people before, she was more mentally resilient. After calming down a bit, she asked, "By the way, where's Teacher Zeng? He fell down too, why haven't I seen him?"

"No, no, no, no, no... I don't know, will... will something bad happen?"

Seeing that her eldest nephew was terrified, Tang Youyou looked up at the hole in the ceiling that was only the size of a bowl, and forced herself to muster up the courage to walk forward.

"Where are you going?"

"If you fall here, you can't get back up. Go find Teacher Zeng."

"Wait, wait, wait... I, I, I, I, I... my legs are a little weak."

"..."

The aunt and nephew, holding flashlights, began searching for Zeng Xiaoxian in the field of corpses. They were extremely careful, afraid of touching the bodies, and even their breathing was very soft.

The flashlight beam swept across the frozen faces of the two men, who both hoped to see Zeng Xiaoxian and feared that if they did, the other man would also end up like this.

After searching for a while, the two looked back and realized they were quite far from where they had fallen.

"Should we continue searching?" Lu Ziqiao, who was slightly more composed, asked in a low voice.

"Shh!"

Tang Youyou gestured for silence, but she couldn't help asking, "What should we do if we can't find Teacher Zeng?"

"Could it be that Teacher Zeng really encountered something?"

Scenes from horror movies kept flashing through their minds, but they dared not give up. They had searched a large area but still couldn't find Zeng Xiaoxian.

Tang Youyou continued searching silently with her flashlight. Just then, she seemed to have discovered something and quickly pointed towards the beam of light, saying, "Look, isn't that Teacher Zeng?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Ziqiao shone his flashlight and saw a figure wearing Zeng Xiaoxian's clothes and carrying a backpack squatting down in the pile of corpses ahead.

"It really seems to be Teacher Zeng."

The two exchanged a glance, then breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, "Teacher Zeng! Teacher Zeng!"

Seeing that the other party did not respond, Tang Youyou looked a little worried and slowly approached Zeng Xiaoxian with Lu Ziqiao.

"Teacher Zeng! Zeng Xiaoxian!"

"Can't Teacher Zeng hear me?"

Lu Ziqiao shook his head, not sure either, but he had already reached Zeng Xiaoxian's side. Seeing that the other was still squatting with his head down, he squatted down and nudged him.

“Zeng Xiaoxian! Zeng…”

Lu Ziqiao's call got stuck in his throat. His pupils contracted, and his face instantly turned extremely ugly. The flashlight in his hand fell to the ground because he couldn't hold it properly.

"Teacher Zeng... is also a corpse."

Looking at Zeng Xiaoxian, who was stiff and motionless in front of him, with his face turning bluish-purple like the surrounding corpses, Lu Ziqiao was dumbfounded.

(End of this chapter)