The security detail for the Jiang family consisted of highly skilled individuals arranged by Jiang Tianyi to protect Jiang Man. After receiving Jiang Man's order to protect me, three men quickly stepped forward, armed with crossbows, and followed me.

Even after the flames in the canyon were extinguished, the stench remained, and the ground was littered with the burned corpses of those Gu creatures.

As I walked through the canyon, I cocked my pistol and cautiously made my way to the cave entrance: "The Gu creatures here are very aggressive. They suck blood after biting you. Although we burned quite a few to death, we don't know if there are any left in the cave. Everyone be careful."

Upon hearing that there was danger ahead, one of the security guards stepped in front of me and said, "Mr. Duan, we earn our money by risking our lives, so we should be prepared to protect our boss. If anything happens inside, you can abandon us and evacuate immediately!"

"It's not that serious, relax!"

I reassured the three people who were on high alert and stepped into the cave.

"Squeak!"

As the light shone into the cave, the cries of the Gu creatures immediately echoed from within.

I shone a regular flashlight inside and found that the cave was filled with Gu creatures that had turned red and swelled up several times their original size.

Thinking about it, I really didn't see many of these red-skinned Gu creatures in the canyons outside. Could it be that these creatures gain intelligence as they drink blood?

"Squeak!"

Stimulated by my light, a Gu creature bared its sharp teeth and lunged at me.

"brush!"

Upon seeing this, the security guard next to me immediately turned on a high-powered flashlight.

Under the intense heat of the flashlight, I felt a wave of heat wash over me and immediately moved to the side.

"call out!"

Another security guard pulled the trigger, and the crossbow bolt brutally pierced through the Gu creature's body, a stream of blood spurting out.

A bright light shone, making the cave seem as if it were filled with countless searchlights, and all the Gu creatures inside screamed and ran into the darkness.

"Stay close to me, and finish this quickly!"

Seeing that the Gu creatures had retreated, I quickened my pace and headed into the cave.

Before long, a dismembered corpse came into my view.

To be precise, this could no longer be considered a dismembered body; it was a pile of bone fragments.

The skin and flesh were gone, leaving only tiny bone fragments scattered all over the ground, like sawdust.

One of the tomb raiders who had been guarding the Golden Rooster was actually chewed up alive by these Gu creatures.

Behind this pile of broken bones is the headless golden rooster, and the rope that was previously wrapped around it is still there.

I shone my flashlight on the gap, and just as I guessed, the hole inside the golden rooster's body was the same shape as the double helix behind the rooster's neck.

Having confirmed this conjecture, I directed the two security guards behind me to take the rope from the golden rooster and begin to turn back towards the cave entrance.

When I was halfway there, I suddenly stopped. The security guard next to me, who was holding a flashlight, saw that I had stopped and shone his flashlight around: "Mr. Duan, is there a problem?"

I stopped at the fork in the tomb passage, looking at the trail of blood spreading towards the narrower path, and asked, "Did you notice which direction those red-skinned rats ran when they were running?"

The three shook their heads: "That thing was moving too fast, we didn't notice it."

At that moment, there was a trail of blood spreading across the ground, heading towards the narrow passage.

I looked at the bloodstains on the ground and the dark, deep passageway to the tomb, took the security guard's flashlight, and shone it inside.

Where the bright light passed, the half-meter-wide tomb passage was completely visible.

Both sides are covered with fish-scale patterns left by tools, about fifteen meters long, and at the end is a stone wall.

The bare ground, devoid of any Gu creature corpses, indicates that there is a corner ahead.

I handed the high-powered flashlight back to the security guard and turned on my own: "You guys stay here, I'll go in and take a look!"

A security guard stopped me: "Mr. Duan, let me go!"

"No need. I'm worried you won't be able to handle things if something unexpected happens inside. I'll take care of it!"

I put the security guards behind me and walked into the narrow passage with my pistol in hand.

I continued on and soon reached the end of the tomb passage. After walking a short distance around the corner, the view suddenly opened up.

This is a room that has been dug out. A pit has been dug out in the ground in front of it, and the pit is filled with a dark, muddy substance.

The fleeing red-skinned rats were all lying on the mud, and each had an umbilical cord-like thing attached to its belly, which led into the mud.

When I shone my flashlight, these red-skinned rats showed no reaction and simply lay quietly on the ground.

There were no coffins in this space, which made me 100% certain that the cave we had entered was an altar.

After a moment's thought, I decided to give up on further investigation. Seeing that I hadn't disturbed the Gu creatures, I quickly withdrew.

Outside the cave, Jiang Man breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that we had successfully carried the golden rooster out: "How are you? Are you hurt?"

I shook my head and started picking out large stones from the ground: "We're fine! There are still some lingering Gu spirits in this cave. Everyone, lend a hand, move some stones to block the entrance, and then get out of this dangerous place as soon as possible!"

"I was just about to tell you about this."

When Jiang Man saw me speak up, she said while offering her help, "Something has happened again in Qingyun Town. We probably have to evacuate temporarily!"

I pushed a large rock to the cave entrance, panting, and asked, "Why? Has something happened in the mountains again?"

"It's because of a loose end from the previous incident. When the police were searching for the suspect in the mountains, they mobilized a lot of people, but two militiamen never returned to their posts."

Jiang Man paused for a moment: "The police have organized a second round of search and rescue, and I heard that the county forestry bureau has also sent a lot of forest rangers. It's going to be quite lively in this mountain in the coming days. Should we avoid it for a while?"

I countered, "Are the missing militiamen locals from Qingyun Town?"

"Um!"

Jiang Man stated frankly, "After receiving this call, I also had my doubts. Do you think those two militiamen might have encountered another tomb-raiding gang and been..."

Seeing Jiang Man hesitate, I already knew what she wanted to say: "The local militia are not like our infiltrated teams. If they go missing, this matter will definitely be investigated thoroughly. If they haven't stumbled upon something that other teams have to hide, they shouldn't be in danger of being killed! However, it is indeed easy for us to run into trouble if we stay in the mountains at this time. Let's evacuate this area first."

Jiang Man thought for a moment and said, "How about I contact Secretary Niu tomorrow and tell him that we've settled our matter and we should go back to Qingyun Town to find out the current situation?"

After a moment's thought, I gently shook my head: "No, I have other plans!"