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Chapter 138 The Cave in the Mountain
Generally, most caves and fissures are easily visible from the outside, with only a few requiring exploration. If there are animal carcasses at the entrance or a strong smell of urine, it is likely a wild animal's den.

If the cave is filled with eerie atmosphere, or if the Mind-Clearing Mantra can sense restlessness, then there may be demons present here.

Whether it's wild beasts or demons, they have ways to deal with them.

The only exception is the great demon. If they encounter a great demon, they must retreat immediately without alerting it, or they will surely die.

Currently, the only person in Mala Village capable of dealing with a powerful demon is Master Liu.

"There's nothing in this cave," Captain Huang said, glancing at the bottomless cavern.

“Its shape is really strange,” Wheat muttered. “It doesn’t look like it was formed naturally.”

"What does it look like to you?"

"Hmm...like the marks that a claw has dug into the stone wall."

“That makes sense.” Huang Ting chuckled. “If you stay in the mountains long enough, you’ll find caves like these everywhere. In my opinion, they were left behind when great demons fought for territory.”

"Huh? They also fight for territory!" the stone monkey interjected. "Isn't that just like the dog I used to have?"

"Pah, how can that be the same? A great demon is born to be a king, and its territory is its kingdom. It must speak based on strength." Huang Ting spat, "For example, the Azure Dragon before was a master who fought his way out of the demons. What is your dog? How dare you compare it to it?"

"Is that dragon really that strong?"

"You must be in the second group to come here. What a pity... you didn't witness the Immortal Master slaying the great demon. At that time, her sword was radiating seven-colored light; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she possessed the aura of a true immortal. Just standing there, the wind would detour around her—"

"Then the Immortal Master killed the Azure Dragon with a single sword strike, and at the same time cleaved the sky in two. Alright, alright, you've said that a hundred times already," Xiaomai interrupted. "Let's hurry up and go to the next cave entrance. I want to go back to Spicy Village to sleep today. I don't want to sleep in a tent in the wild again."

"Hey, some people haven't heard of it yet." Huang Ting waved his hand at the stone monkey. "Alright, go and secure the rope at the cave entrance above."

Suddenly, a series of shrill screams came from behind them.

Everyone turned around and saw several dark figures flying out from the depths of the cave, heading straight for them!

"Beware!"

Huang Ting immediately pushed Xiaomai aside, but he himself was bumped into several times by the dark figure. While stepping back, he lost his footing and fell down instantly!

"Uncle Huang!" Xiaomai hurriedly got up and chased after him to the cave entrance.

"It's alright, it's alright, he's wearing a safety rope!" the others in the team shouted. "Everyone come and lend a hand, let's pull the captain up!"

Four or five people pulled Huang Ting, who was hanging upside down on the rock wall, back into the cave.

"Damn it! What was that thing just now?" Captain Huang was getting embarrassed and cursed, "It suddenly rushed out and scared the hell out of me!"

"It looks like a bat?" the stone monkey said, scratching its head.

"Bats are never this big! One is almost half the length of my arm!" He angrily took the gun off his back, released the safety, and walked to the bottom of the cave five meters away. "I want to see where they came from!"

He was stunned when he looked.

There was another hole above the end of the cave.

And it's not an ordinary hole, but a perfectly round opening, as if it were deliberately left there.

It was about three feet wide, just big enough for one person to squeeze into.

"Hey, come over here quickly!" Huang Ting hurriedly called to his men, while taking out a flashlight from his pocket.

This thing, like the nylon rope, is a treasure obtained by the shopkeeper. It lights up with just a press of a finger, making it far more useful than a torch.

With the flashlight on, the situation above became clear instantly.

The cave walls looked surprisingly smooth and even reflected some light, unlike what one would expect from a pile of stones.

"Is this some kind of bird's nest?" someone muttered.

"Not really," the stone monkey shook its head. "It looks more like something made by a human."

"There's no one in this desolate wilderness." "It looks quite deep; I wonder how long it is..."

"Why don't you climb up and take a look?"

"Forget it, as long as there are no demons, what does this cave have to do with us?"

Everyone started talking at once.

"I want to go inside and take a look," Huang Ting suddenly said.

"Captain, is this necessary?"

“Let’s just consider it eliminating a potential hazard. What if it’s a huge hole hiding a demon?” He handed the gun to Xiaomai. “You guys help me build a human ladder.”

Anyway, checking it won't take much time.

If this cave really is the home of the giant bats, then he should at least light a fire inside to let them know the price of frightening them.

The human ladder was quickly set up, and Huang Ting stepped on his teammates' shoulders to successfully crawl into the round hole.

The vertical section was short, and the passage soon turned forward. His hands and feet slammed against the circular wall, making thumping sounds. This thing was actually made of metal, he realized, the stone monkey was right, only a human could create something so uniform and sturdy.

Is it iron? Huang Ting wiped the thick layer of mud and dust off the cave wall with his sleeve, but he didn't find any familiar iron or copper rust.

As we continued forward, the flashlight beam suddenly went completely black, as if it had vanished abruptly.

He patted the flashlight and realized that it hadn't gone out, but rather that there was a rather empty space in front of him, and the light it emitted could no longer reach the end.

There really is a huge hole!

Huang Ting suddenly felt a little scared. Heaven knows what kind of monsters lived inside.

But it wasn't easy to turn around here, and besides, he was the team leader, so how could he show weakness in front of his teammates? He gritted his teeth and continued to climb in, and after about ten steps, the tunnel came to an end.

Huang Ting first poked his head out, followed by his arm holding the flashlight. He shone it around, speechless with shock!

This is no demon's cave!
It's clearly a tomb!
Below, above, left, right... all were smooth walls, even more orderly than his old house, except for a bit more dust! However, the scale of this tomb was astonishing, at least a hundred meters long, and the rows of coffins on the ground indicated that this should be a joint burial tomb.

Why would someone be buried in the desolate wilderness?
It must be impossible to carve out such a magnificent space inside a mountain pillar without magical powers, right?

Could this be... the place where true immortals rest in eternal sleep?

Huang Ting became increasingly alarmed as he thought about it. He quickly reversed his course and returned the way he came, no longer daring to linger alone for even a moment.

It took Huang Ting almost thirty minutes to climb out of the pipe, and his heart was still pounding the moment he landed.

"Did you find something?" Wheat noticed that his expression was a little off.

"Thank God, you have no idea what I saw! It was a tomb, a really big one!" Huang Ting described his discovery with great enthusiasm. "The hole on top must have been specifically designed for entry and exit to prevent tomb robbers from taking away the burial goods. This thing is also extraordinary. Not only is it perfectly round, but the inner walls are also made entirely of black iron, without even a trace of rust!"

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

"seriously?"

"If it's a joint burial tomb, then who was it built for?"

"There can't possibly be many people living in the vast wilderness!"

"Everyone, please quiet down. Boss, what do you think we should do next?" the stone monkey asked. "Should we contact nearby teams and ask them to come and assist with the exploration?"

"Contact them my ass! This is the first major discovery since the expedition team was established. There's no reason to ask others to share the credit," Huang Ting refused without even thinking.

"Does the captain mean we should figure out what's inside first?"

“That won’t work either. There are only about ten of us. If we encounter danger, we’ll be helpless,” Huang Ting said, though he was agitated, he still prioritized the situation. “This matter is of great importance. We should return to Mala Village immediately and report our findings to the Immortal Master so she can make the next decision.”

(End of this chapter)