Tomb raiding: following the plot while tearing up the script

In the dark waterway, two wooden boats connected together are slowly moving forward with the current.

Strangely, there were no boatmen or helmsmen on either of the two boats; they only carried a few dazed and confused men and an old ox pulling a cart loaded with supplies.

A rustling sound came from deep within the cave. Wu Xie was suddenly awakened from his daze. He turned around and saw that apart from the old ox carrying supplies on the second boat, the middle-aged boatman who was rowing the boat had disappeared.

Wu Xie was startled and quickly looked in the direction of the old man who had been their guide. Sure enough, he was gone too.

The flashlight shone into the dark cave, but the light seemed to be swallowed by the darkness. The nearby mountain walls were covered with damp, black moss, and the darkness inside the cave seemed endless.

The faint stench of decay was nauseating. Sitting on the swaying flatboat, all I could hear was the dripping water and my companion's amplified breathing.

An unknown fear gripped his heart, a chill rose from the depths of his soul, and the immense pressure caused Wu Xie to break out in a cold sweat instantly.

"Third Uncle, something's not right. The old man and the boatman are gone." Wu Xie's voice was dry and tight, and he unconsciously swallowed hard a few times.

"What?" Wu Sansheng looked extremely surprised, scanning the room with his flashlight. "Panzi, where are those two?"

As soon as Pan Zi heard Wu Xie shout that something was wrong, he quickly pulled an entrenching tool from the side of his backpack and stood protectively beside Wu Sansheng.

"I don't know, Third Master. I didn't hear any splashing." Pan Zi tightened his grip on the entrenching tool, keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings.

"I was so distracted by the noise in the cave that I didn't even notice how the person disappeared after I heard Brother Zhang's warning."

"Damn it, I've been in this business for so many years, and I actually got scammed by two scoundrels?" Wu Sansheng spat into the water, cursing and showing a very angry expression.

Then he slapped his thigh. "Oh no, there's something strange about this cave. Unlike that boatman, we don't have any corpse aura on us. Who knows what will happen later?"

"Third Master, what should we do now? Should we go back?"

Wu Xie never expected that this seemingly intimidating big guy, Da Kui, would be so cowardly, cowering to the side and trembling, even less timid than him, a novice.

“We can’t go back.” Zhang Qiling, sitting at the stern of the boat, spoke with certainty.

Wu Sansheng nodded. "They dared to disappear at this time because they were certain we couldn't turn back."

He gritted his teeth and looked at Panzi and Da Kui. "Have you two ever eaten solid meat?"

"Solid meat" is underworld slang; it actually refers to the flesh of a dead person.

People who have eaten solid meat will be tainted with the aura of death. Some evil creatures will treat such people as their own kind, and even if they are not, they will at least not attack them indiscriminately.

The boatman and his dog clearly ate this kind of meat regularly, which may explain his ability to navigate through the cave.

Pan Zi swallowed hard, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace. "Third Master, if you ask me if I've ever killed anyone, I can name a dozen or twenty. And cannibalism..."

As Panzi spoke, he suddenly looked at Da Kui, whose face had turned pale with fright. "Da Kui, didn't you say your family sells human flesh buns? Have you eaten any?"

Da Kui was almost in tears.

"I was just bragging. Who would eat that stuff?"

They were arguing over there. Wu Xie wiped the sweat from his brow in annoyance, and was about to tell them to stop.

Suddenly, the ship shook, as if something unknown had struck the bottom of their vessel.

Panzi and Da Kui's arguing suddenly stopped as if they had been choked, their mouths shut instantly.

The group of people simultaneously shone their flashlights onto the water, completely forgetting the guide's earlier instruction not to look into the water.

Wu Xie had just caught sight of a huge shadow when he was startled by Da Kui's scream.

"A monster! A huge monster!" Da Kui pointed at the water, his body trembling as if he were being electrocuted, his face as white as a ghost.

Such a huge monster could probably swallow them all in one gulp.

Before Wu Sansheng could even reprimand him, Zhang Qiling reached out with his right hand, scooped a ferocious-looking crustacean from the water, and shoved it straight at Wu Sansheng.

Wu Sansheng suspected that if he hadn't reacted quickly, Zhang Qiling would have shoved the bug into his mouth.

苏黎：我张哥干得漂亮！(?1?7?1?9v?1?7?1?7)

"Diving beetles?" Wu Xie cautiously moved closer to Zhang Qiling, observing the creature that looked somewhat familiar yet different from the diving beetles he remembered. "Are those big guys in the water a swarm of diving beetles?"

It was at this moment that Wu Xie noticed Zhang Qiling's unusual fingers. What was this? The legendary "Hunter's Finger"?

Wu Sansheng looked at the ugly thing baring its fangs and claws in front of him and felt that something was wrong.

I closed my eyes briefly. Oh well, the show still has to go on.

“It’s a corpse beetle.” Wu Sansheng stepped aside, moving a little further away from Zhang Qiling.

"These things grow by eating carrion; the more dead things they eat, the bigger they get, and the more numerous they become."

After Wu Sansheng finished speaking, he looked at Wuxie, waiting for him to reply.

Before Wu Xie could react and ask a question, Zhang Qiling suddenly threw the corpse beetle in his hand into the water and looked into the depths of the cave.

"Something's coming."

Wu Sansheng...

Hey bro, why didn't you even consult me ​​before changing the script? I still have a ton of lines to say!

Wu Sansheng suddenly felt a stifling sensation, as if a large breath was stuck in his throat.

(Jie Yuchen pointed to the long passage where Wu Sansheng showed off his erudition and composure, saying, "So much nonsense, cut it all out.")

But no one cared; everyone was drawn to Zhang Qiling's words and subconsciously looked into the depths of the cave.

A faint, strange sound came from within.

Everyone felt as if their ears were covered by something, and they could only hear a faint sound.

It felt like the tentacles of hundreds of insects crawling, or like countless little devils whispering in my ear.

The cave became extremely quiet, as if everyone had been captivated by the sound, their eyes becoming vacant and blank.

Wu Xie knew he might have been infected, and he felt uneasy. He tried several times to break free from this state, but he couldn't escape.

"Thump... thump... thump..."

It sounded like something heavy falling into the water. Then, Wu Xie felt someone pinch his chin and stuff a round dumpling into his mouth.

The pill melted in his mouth, and the cool medicine was swallowed, instantly clearing his mind and restoring him to his senses.

Wu Xie, who had just regained consciousness, looked at Zhang Qiling in confusion, then turned his head and saw Wu Sansheng and the other two who had just emerged from the water.

"Brother?" Wu Xie hadn't quite grasped what was happening. "What did you give me to eat?"

Zhang Qiling nodded. "The Mind-Clearing Pill."

He popped one into his own mouth as he spoke, then completely ignored the stares of Wu Sansheng and the other two.

"There's something wrong with the sound. Stay in the water." He said, drawing his black and gold ancient sword from his back and tapping the tip of the blade on the boat's deck, as if waiting for something.

Wu Sansheng was soaking in the icy water, watching Wu Xie sitting casually next to Zhang Qiling, and he didn't know what to say.

We agreed to go into the water together!

This isn't what we agreed on!

If you have such a good thing, why did you kick the three of us into the water?

No one knows the rich inner world of Wu Sansheng.

"Boom."

With a muffled thud, it seemed as if something had fallen from the mountainside above onto their boat.