Meng Fuyao smiled and slowly withdrew her hand, saying, “I’m good.”
Zhan Beiye averted his gaze, the light in his eyes dimmed a little, yet he still gave her a playful and charming smile.
Meng Fuyao smiled back in return. Suddenly, the smile froze.
In front of them, a black shadow of half man’s height silently appeared above Ji Yu’s head, hanging upside down from the ceiling, crashing straight into Ji Yu’s head.
Meng Fuyao sprinted forward.
Without looking back, Ji Yu drew his sword swiftly.
The speed of which he drew his sword was so quick that it was as though the sword was initially in his hands. The sword drove straight into the bundle of black shadow.
“Chi!”
Blood splattered over the pure white stalactite. A shriek could be heard from the black shadow as it brushed past Ji Yu, stirring up the stench of death and blood.
Ji Yu’s sword followed, showing no signs of falling back, and aimed for the black shadow. It was instantly sliced into two, yet it remained flying at high speed until it collided into a stalagmite. The stalagmite shattered into pieces as it fell onto the ground.
In the pile of rubble, a black pair of wings could be seen. It was actually a gigantic bat!
Meng Fuyao stared at the bat and mumbled, “This damn bat ancestor… it’s ridiculous…” Suddenly, she felt that the cave got darker and it was followed by a fishy odor. She lifted her head.
Meng Fuyao started gagging from the foul smell and said, “I take back my words. That wasn’t a bat ancestor, it was its descendant….”
A big patch of black appeared in the narrow exit up front. The sound of flapping wings could be heard as the patch of black got closer and closer. Taking a closer look, they realized that it was a larger cluster of bats, with each individual bat large beyond imagination. Even the gigantic bat from just now was considered small when compared to this group.
Zhan Beiye, even faster than Ji Yu, drew his sword and ordered, “Formation, Seven Stars!”
The well-trained Black Wind soldiers stood familiarly in their positions, with their weapons in hands, protecting Meng Fuyao. But Meng Fuyao snatched up the “Tianshu position” and launched her first strike at the very first bat.
Those bats had slightly gold fur on their abdomen area, a pair of jade green eyes and a mouthful of sharp teeth. Watching Meng Fuyao provoke them, the bats were filled with fury and flapped their wings, once again stirring up the bloody stench.
These beasts thought that their attack would somehow affect Meng Fuyao. To their disbelief, Meng Fuyao’s lips broke into a grin and with a turn she disappeared. A Black Wind soldier suddenly appeared at the back of the bat and chopped off its wings while Meng Fuyao changed her position and stabbed her dagger into another bat’s stomach.
Blood spattered everywhere, and the bat’s corpse was all around the place. Experienced elite soldiers plus two skilled masters coupled with the formidable Seven Stars Formation, regardless of how sly and big these bats were, it was still a one-sided massacre. Especially for the soldiers, they were taking out the entire journey worth of anger and feeling of helplessness on the bats, killing the bats mercilessly. Very quickly, a layer of gluey blood accumulated on the floor and the air was completely infused with the blood’s stench, lodging between people’s breath.
Seeing that they were at a disadvantage, the first bat suddenly let out a cry, and the rest of the bats got into order, dashing towards the soldiers. The soldiers that were completely sick of slaying the bats at this point tried to stop and take a breath. Before they got to take a break, they saw the bats rushing towards them and making a sudden U-turn, flying towards Meng Fuyao, aiming for the lighter that lit the place. The bats grabbed the lighter and ran.
“These sly motherf*ckers!” Meng Fuyao cursed and continued fighting, throwing the knives in the bats’ direction, killing a few in one go. Except for Zhan Beiye, the weapons of the soldiers were thrown in the direction of the bats. There were only a couple of lighters left, and without lighters, the journey would be impossible to continue. These damn bats actually tried to cut off their escape route.
As the injured bats fell, the lighter dropped on the ground. Suddenly, a group of bats rushed over and snatched the lighter away.
Meng Fuyao, was struck dumb with astonishment as she stared at these “intelligent” bats and uttered, “Are these bats or assassins? They knew how to escape when their attack failed and made a feint attack. To hell with this Chang Han Mountain… the things here are all ridiculous.”
“The Gun Tribe is a legendary mystic clan. If not, it would not have completely massacred the soldiers sent by the court a hundred years ago.” Zhan Beiye gripped the sword in his hands and said, “Count the number of lighters, how many are there left?”
The results were disappointing; there were only two lighters left. When they were at the swamp, to deal with the flesh-eating ants, they had already used up too many lighters. It was hard to say if the remaining lighters were enough to last them throughout the journey.
“Use them sparingly,” Zhan Beiye blew out the flame and said, “we are not weak amateurs, use your ears to replace your eyes.”
He held Meng Fuyao’s hands and said, “Don’t reject me, it will be safer if we walk together.”
Meng Fuyao smiled and no longer withdrew her hands. Her long fingertips brushed across his palm, and she laughed. “Hmm… Your hands are surprisingly not very big … ah, you actually have a single palmar crease [In ancient China, they believe palm lines are indicative of one’s personality and fate], it is said that having a single palmar crease allows one to be in control of the military, and especially for men, they can dictate the court’s discipline. Congrats, congrats. Unfortunately, people with this kind of palm crease are hot-tempered and difficult, though they value ties and are very loyal. They are very obstinate too, the classic, “cry only when death is staring one in the face” type…”
“What are you muttering,” Zhan Beiye laughed, “Like some kind of con artist.”
Just as Meng Fuyao was about to reply, she felt something slither under her. It was extremely light, as though it was a gentle breeze. She even felt that that “wind” brushed the bottom of her pants and cold wind entered.
Without hesitation, she stabbed her dagger into the floor and felt that her dagger almost slipped off. Slightly cold blood splattered over the back of her hand. Suddenly, she remembered something, and her face turned pale.
Double-Headed snake.
A flame was lit, it was Zhan Beiye who quickly lit up the lighter. Indeed, what was on the floor was a Double-Headed snake. His expression changed immediately, and he quickly squatted down, checking Meng Fuyao’s wound carefully. “Did you get bitten? Wound, where’s the wound?” Zhan Beiye asked anxiously.
“No,” Meng Fuyao flinched, “It didn’t bite me”.
Though that might be the case, everyone could not help but stare at each other helplessly. To find a Double-Headed snake here was terrible news. Such snakes were completely silent and could not be distinguished purely based on one’s hearing, and yet there were not enough lighters. If they were to use the lighters now, they would die in the grave; but if they did not use the lighters, they would still die by the mouths of the snakes.
“Why didn’t it bite you?” asked Zhan Beiye, perplexed. He looked up and saw that what was in front was nothing but a stone wall. It was a dead end.
“The grave should be nearby.” Zhan Beiye looked around the surroundings. “It’s not that bad, there should be a reason that the snake did not bite. The Big Gun grave should be somewhere here, all of you, be careful. I want all of you out of here alive.”
Everyone started to split up. With a dim light, they tried to search for the entrance of the tomb. Meng Fuyao mumbled, “Candles, torch, measuring tape, watch, brush, compass, matchstick, shovel, pen… sigh”
“What are those?” asked someone.
“Raiding a tomb… oh no, excavating…” Meng Fuyao blinked and looked at Zhan Beiye, “Sly.”
“Fuyao, where are you actually from?” Zhan Beiye stared at her, “You never seemed like someone from the Five Region Continent.”
“I came from this tomb.” Fuyao joked, yet there was a sense of melancholy in her heart. What if one day, she went back? Would she walk into a tomb of someone of this era while exploring archaeological sites and between all that jewelry and paintings, see someone familiar lying in the coffin?”
Would she uncover the mask made out of silk and gold and reveal an unforgettable face?
What kind of emotions would arise as a result of this time travel?
Meng Fuyao shook her head and decided to put these complicated emotions aside. She stretched out her and pulled out a Black Wind soldier’s shovel. She settled on a small area and begun to dig the area, shoveling up the soil repeatedly.
Zhan Beiye stood silently in a corner, observing her uncommon behavior and going into deep thought.
Meng Fuayo closely observed the soil and the items that she shoveled up, and she sniffed the scent on the soil and shovel. Meng Fuyao sighed. “Mottled soil [1. Soils usually have distinct layers of colors, and mottled soil is usually an indication of the presence of a grave]… Unfortunately, it’s not a Loyang shovel… but I can guess what happened.”
She stood up and declared, “Though I do not know how people of the Big Gun clan built a tomb under this cave, it should be under this karst cave.
Meng Fuyo sketched a rough position of the tomb on the floor and explained, “It is a huge tomb. From the looks of it, it is a dome-like tomb, and the person buried inside is no ordinary person… Try this place.”
She pointed to a small corner, where the cave was slightly sloping down. It was a little dark and gloomy with a stalagmite, but it looked perfectly normal.
A Black Wind soldier walked over and searched that area. He shook his head.
As he stood up, he accidentally bumped into a stalagmite, and it cracked. The soldier unintentionally caught a glimpse of it and turned pale.
A scream tried to rush out of his throat only to be caught midway.
Both Meng Fuyao and Zhan Beiye rushed over like a bolt of lighting. Zhan Beiye reached first and in mid-air, waved his sword and sliced the stalagmite into a half, all while protecting Meng Fuyao.
The stalagmite rolled over, as though as it was alive, directly towards Meng Fuyao.
The stalagmite rushed over rapidly, as though it had wheels. Meng Fuyao did a flip and directed an attack towards the stalagmite.
Between the rocks and sparks made from friction, she could vaguely spot a pale human-like figure, pale. Shocked, Meng Fuyao quickly withdrew her dagger, and instead, used the tip of her dagger to brush across the stalagmite. Unable to hold against the sharpness of the dagger, the stalagmite cracked open, and a white living thing rolled out.
With a whistle from Ji Yu, everyone dispersed with a knife in hand, ready to fight against that suspicious thing. As though as it was alive, it continued to roll towards Meng Fuyao. She pointed the tip of the dagger towards the thing, and as though afraid, the thing stopped rolling towards her three feet away.