Tomb raiding: Trying to become a little painter

P.S. (The timeline in Shangsha has been changed to the early 2000s, before the excavation began. The excavation timeline differs from reality, so please don't overanalyze it.)

As daylight faded and night quietly descended, the chirping of insects and calls of birds clamored fiercely on the city's outskirts. Deep in the mountains outside the city, the beams of seven or eight flashlights danced left and right in the forest, rustling through branches and grass roots.

"Young Master! We need to deviate from our route! We can't go straight up the mountain over there. There's a stream with a lot of moss in it, and it's easy to slip. It's best to take a detour!"

A man about 1.78 meters tall, carrying a backpack and holding a new type of night vision binoculars, observed his surroundings with his eyes glued to the lenses. He then turned to Wu Xie behind him and reported.

"Then let's take a detour and try to speed up our journey. Once it gets a little brighter, we'll find a place to set up camp and rest."

They set off at night and rested during the day. Since their destination was in the Changsha area, which was surrounded by many towns and villages, Wu Xie's trip, though far from these key points, was still to be taken to a major city. For safety reasons, regardless of whether there were people in the forest, the group tried to present themselves as an adventure tourism team during the day, setting up camp, resting, and "playing" before heading to their destination at night.

Although time was tight, Wu Xie made careful arrangements and selected trustworthy people he had screened over the past few months. This time, he went down into the tomb to improve himself and to test his subordinates.

Hearing Kan Jian's words earlier, Wu Xie immediately made the best decision for them. The group moved through the jungle at a much faster pace than before, while the lights in the forest flickered as they looked around.

..................................................

On the other side, looking up from the foot of the mountain, the mountain path winds and twists in the dead of night, and in the twilight, three pairs of golden pupils gradually spread from the foot of the mountain into the forest under the cover of darkness.

"You're wrong, you're wrong! The blind man is really wrong this time! Henian and the mute, don't be angry!"

"Even a blind man wouldn't know that frogs can't be eaten! I was just thinking that we'd been traveling for days, finally getting back to Changsha, only to find that Wu Xie, that evil thing, had gone into the tomb! And you two were in such a hurry..."

"I haven't had a proper meal in days, and I just got back and now I have to leave again. I was thinking of going up the mountain to find something to eat in the forest, but who knew those purplish-red frogs were poisonous and had a numbing effect on the skin? I didn't think of that... I was so wrong..."

Black Bear's vision was exceptionally good in the dark, so good that he looked at his hand, which was swollen to the point of resembling a pig's trotter, with a look of bewilderment and deep resentment.

Oh no! Oh no! He didn't know where all those strangely colored frogs came from in this forest. He even had to catch one to take a look. But it would have been better if he hadn't looked at it. As soon as he touched its skin, the slippery, numbing sensation paralyzed his nerves the moment it touched him. In the end, the frog hopped away right in front of him, and the bear's hands that had been holding the frog were "ruined."

The toxins on the frog's skin are still temporarily numbing their hands. If Wu Xie and his group were to encounter such a poisonous frog, they would all be lying on the ground.

And you know what... really, you know what...

In the jungle on the other side, several beams of light shone haphazardly from all directions. In the darkness, branches creaked and cracked underfoot, and hurried footsteps echoed through the forest.

"Wu Xie! You're getting weirder and weirder every day! We're not even inside the tomb yet... and we've already been caught by these ghostly things outside! I must have had the worst luck in eight lifetimes to have followed you for so long and my heart is still pounding like crazy..."

"What kind of nonsense is this?! Do frogs ever look like this?! It's neither red nor green..."

In the woods, Fatty Wang, carrying a large backpack and holding a shovel, stood ready, watching the swarm of frogs croaking "lonely, lonely" in the grass.

"Enough, Fatty! Stop talking! The more you talk, the worse my feeling gets!"

Wu Xie was also worried! They were walking peacefully in the woods when suddenly a cacophony of croaking came from the bushes. They picked up twigs and poked at them a few times, and several red-skinned, green-eyed, yellow-palmed frogs leaped three feet high, pouncing directly on them...

At first, no one took it seriously when the frog pounced on their clothes. But after Panzi suddenly slapped the frog and sent it flying, his palm turned red and hot until he lost consciousness. He couldn't feel anything when he was slapped, and soon he passed out. Now, the group could only stand back to back, wary of the surrounding frogs, and no one dared to underestimate these creatures that had suddenly appeared.

"Don't get the wrong idea, my shovel... Holy crap! Little naiveté! These frogs are really a mutated virus, they're seriously something else..."

Fatty Wang had been swatting away countless frogs that had jumped over him with his shovel, but gradually he felt the pressure on his hand lessening. He looked up to check…

Good heavens! The shovel emitted a foul and fishy stench. The iron shovel had a large hole in the middle, and a large piece of iron had been corroded away by the red and foul smell. Fatty Wang quickly threw down the shovel, pulled out a gun from his pocket, and his mental state improved dramatically.

"what?"

Wu Xie was holding his own large white dog-leg knife, which he had used to cut down many frogs that flew towards him. When he heard Fatty Wang chattering beside him, he subconsciously glanced at the other man and saw that he had switched to a different weapon.

"Stop saying that... The blood of these frogs is corrosive, everyone be careful! Especially you, Tianzhen, stay away, look for a fire, see if you can drive them away!"

Wang Pangzi, not having time to chat with Wu Xie for long, quickly reminded everyone.

fire!

Wu Xie had brought fire with him. He remembered that his cheap master had several torches in his bag, and he had taken two before leaving. He brought them with him this time to the tomb. He quickly started feeling around in his bag, while keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings.

Coo coo coo...

Coo coo coo...

Coo coo coo...

As the frogs watched their companions advance one by one, only to fly back and die, they gradually became agitated. Like warriors who grew stronger with each battle, the frogs charged forward wave after wave.

boom!boom!

Gunshots rang out, followed by the loud thud of detonators exploding, and the woods instantly erupted into chaos.

"Vest! Can't you be a little more careful? You didn't even warn me before setting off the explosives, you almost blew me up!"

Wang Pangzi's face was flushed with anger. He had been protecting Wu Xie, so he was closest to Wu Xie. But he didn't expect that Kan Jian would have time to take out a detonator while helping Pan Zi fire a shot. The loud explosion almost blew him away too. Fortunately, he threw it far into the grass, and the remaining flames only formed a circle, which deterred the frogs that still wanted to attack.

"I'm so sorry! Fatty, I really have no choice. These frogs have just targeted me, and I can't help it now that I'm supporting Master Pan."

There was nothing he could do; he had set the detonator himself, and all he could do was explain after being scolded following the explosion.