Chapter 44: Evil Insects
The road continued to descend, and the spiral route had not changed for a long time, except that the width on both sides narrowed again, and gradually returned to a distance that only one person could pass through.
"Master, I... I'm not feeling well," Fifth Concubine Yu Zhenzhu, who was walking in front of Master Lan, whispered softly. But in this dull and narrow passage, most people still heard it clearly.
"This..." Master Lan looked around. At this moment, he was in the middle, with the fifth concubine in front of him and the fourth concubine behind him. "Xiao Si, please help take care of Xiao Wu." He said behind him.
But Fourth Concubine Qin seemed to have heard nothing at all. She followed Master Lan closely, nervously looking around and clutching something in her arms. Master Lan sighed helplessly and said to Linlang in front of him in a pleading tone, "I'm so sorry, Miss Linlang, please help take care of Xiaowu. Brother Yin, can you please let the people in front stop and rest for a while?"
"You can't rest here!" Luo Mei, who was walking in front, immediately rejected Master Lan's plea. "We all saw the trap just now. If we're not careful, anyone could lose their life here. Stop and rest? Anyone who doesn't want to die can stop and rest. No one will wait for you to die with you."
Linlang felt Luo Mei's words were rather unpleasant, but she didn't know how to refute them. She reluctantly turned around to tend to the Fifth Concubine, who had fallen behind the Fourth Concubine. After a brief inquiry, she learned that it was only a mild case of menstrual cramps. Linlang pulled a date from her bosom and offered it to the Fifth Concubine, which gradually eased her pain.
"Thank you, Sister Linlang. I'm much better now." Yu Zhenzhu smiled at Linlang.
Linlang gently comforted her, and then she heard Yin Chuan in front of the team say, "Linlang! Come quickly!" Linlang didn't know what happened in front, so she hurried back to Yin Chuan.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"It's okay, I just want you to come back quickly and don't be left alone at the back of the team." Yin Chuan leaned over and whispered in Linlang's ear.
Linlang was a little puzzled and looked at Yin Chuan with a questioning look.
"I'll explain it to you when we get a chance." Yin Chuan whispered, then turned to the front and asked, "Di Feiyan, how long do we have to go?"
"No need to ask so many questions, just follow me closely." Luo Mei replied.
After walking down twenty more steps, the spiral road turned left. Luo Mei carefully took out the Luoyang shovel used for gravel robbing and probed for any trace of something. Finding nothing unusual, she turned and continued forward. "Follow closely!" she warned.
The team followed in a single file. Just as the last one, Tan Zhuozi, turned the corner and took a few steps, he suddenly felt a shaking behind him. A dull thunderous sound followed. Turning around, Tan Zhuozi was so frightened that he sat down on the ground. "Oh... Oh my God!" he exclaimed.
At the bend, the dirt slope they had walked on had completely collapsed, revealing a bottomless abyss. Returning to investigate, Luo Mei couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. She stepped lightly and noticed the ground was now solid stone, a stark contrast to the soft soil she had previously found.
"Fortunately, we all made it here. Thank goodness!" Du Yunzhang sighed.
Luo Mei hummed, then returned to the front of the team, "There's no way back, let's keep moving forward."
A sense of dreariness began to spread through the group, and from that point on, no one was in the mood to speak loudly. This was especially true for Fan Zheng and the other two, who were walking at the end. One-armed Yuan Lao Er suggested that Fan Zheng quicken his pace and move to the front of the group, but Fan Zheng refused, "What do you know? It's safest for us to be at the end. Don't let those superficial things scare you!"
Tan Zhuozi next to him seemed to want to say something, but in the end he stopped himself and just followed Boss Fan at the end of the team in a depressed mood.
After walking down a little further, Luo Mei, who was at the front, gestured backwards to stop. Du Yunzhang asked, "Are we almost there?"
"Look, there are flying insects ahead, which means we're about to reach a relatively open space. Although I don't know if this is the true location of the tomb, I can't rule out this possibility."
"As expected of a seasoned tomb raider," Yin Chuan gave a thumbs-up. "However, regardless of whether there's a tomb ahead, we should take a break. After all, there are several women in the team, and we need to take care of them a little bit."
As soon as Yin Chuan finished speaking, before Luo Mei could reply, someone suddenly shouted from behind: "Ah! What the hell? Why is it biting me?"
Everyone turned to look, only to see Tan Zhuozi, in a state of madness, flapping his legs and body relentlessly as if bitten by something. Yuan Laoer put down his backpack and stepped forward to help Tan Zhuozi with the beating. Luo Mei turned and approached them, only seeing clearly that Tan Zhuozi's legs were covered in thumb-sized flying insects. These insects had black wings and tiny bodies, but their mouthparts were disproportionately large for their size. They would bite and not come down, and could even bite through pants. They were undoubtedly some kind of vicious blood-sucking insect.
Fan Zheng gasped, "These are earthworms, a type of insect that lives in cavities in moist soil. Their bites are no joke. Get rid of them quickly, or your legs might be crippled!"
Tan Zhuozi and Yuan Laoer were both terrified and hurriedly pulled the insects off one by one. Perhaps because the wounds instantly became red and swollen after being bitten by the insects, Tan Zhuozi screamed in pain.
"Oh no! There are many more coming from behind!" Yuan Laoer pointed behind Tan Zhuozi, and saw dots of insects flying in the darkness. They were all Tu Chi, and they seemed to be coming in an endless stream, more and more.
"We can't stay here for long, let's move forward!" Luo Mei hurriedly greeted everyone.
Everyone witnessed Tan Zhuozi's plight and, knowing the power of these earthworms, dared not pause for a moment, rushing forward. Even though Tan Zhuozi's legs were injured, director Fan Zheng remained unmoved, ignoring his men and simply sprinting forward with the team. Yuan Laoer had no choice but to reluctantly carry his heavy bag, letting Tan Zhuozi hold his waist as he followed closely behind.
As their pace quickened, they soon reached the end of the spiral path. After Luo Mei emerged from the cave, he urged the others behind him to hurry out. He then pulled a five-foot square of coarse cloth from his bag and asked Du Yunzhang to help seal the cave entrance tightly, blocking out the stalking Tuchi insects. Yin Chuan and Linlang also stepped forward to lend a hand, and together, the four of them managed to keep the vicious insects out.
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