Zhang Fan stuck the torch into the stalactite, threw his backpack aside, and held a dagger in one hand and an iron shovel in the other.
"bring it on!"
Zhang Fan rushed straight towards the nearest mummy.
clang!
Zhang Fan used the shovel as a shield to block the mummy's attack, and then with a swift movement of his dagger, he severed the air fossa behind the mummy.
Without the support of its air roots, the mummy quickly collapsed to the ground, leaving only a shell.
Roar~
A group of mummies surrounded him, but Zhang Fan chopped and kicked them, and three or five mummies couldn't get close to him.
These mummies are extremely tenacious. No matter how you cut or chop them, it's useless. Even if you cut off all four limbs of the mummy, leaving only its mouth, it will still swing its tail and come to bite you.
The only solution is to sever the aerial roots that connect to the back of their necks.
The mummy's movement speed is not fast, and its movements are rather sluggish, which is Zhang Fan's only advantage at present.
After cutting down more than ten mummies, Zhang Fan felt that this was not a solution. The number of mummies around him had not decreased but had increased significantly, and mummies were constantly floating down from the top of the cave.
Zhang Fan also wanted to escape, but the cobblestone path was blocked by mummies on both sides, making escape difficult. Besides, he couldn't leave his second aunt alone here.
Zhang Fan turned his head and saw Qiu Wanlan hiding behind a stalactite not far away, watching the battle unfold.
Thankfully, the mummies didn't spot her...
etc!
Why couldn't these mummies find her?
This is illogical.
Zhang Fan had already noticed that these mummies had no eyes; they didn't rely on sight to search for targets, but rather on things like sound vibrations or smells.
Zhang Fan tried running a few steps away and then standing still, but the mummy still pounced on him without hesitation.
Damn it!
After Zhang Fan cut down one mummy, he retreated continuously. The more he cut down the mummies, the more there were. If this continued, he would eventually be worn down and die here.
"ah!"
Qiu Wanlan screamed, and Zhang Fan turned around to see a mummy that had somehow gotten behind her, startling her.
Just as Zhang Fan was about to rush over to save her, she found that the mummy completely ignored her and simply walked past her, as if Qiu Wanlan did not exist.
This left Zhang Fan completely bewildered.
But in that instant, Zhang Fan seemed to have found a lifeline. He rushed over and pulled Qiu Wanlan out from behind the stalactites, pushing her in front of the mummies.
"Ah!" Qiu Wanlan screamed as she looked at the group of ugly-looking mummies.
"Don't be afraid, Auntie, they won't bite you." Zhang Fan held Qiu Wanlan firmly in front of him, preventing her from escaping.
"I'm your second aunt! How can you treat your elders like this!"
As Qiu Wanlan watched the mummy getting closer and closer, she felt like she was going crazy. She wanted to run away, but Zhang Fan held her waist tightly, preventing her from moving.
hoarse~
Dozens of mummies had already gathered around them, reaching out their hands and staggering to surround the two of them. The stench and filth emanating from the mummies almost made Qiu Wanlan faint. Fortunately, Zhang Fan was supporting her from behind, preventing her from collapsing to the ground.
Zhang Fan saw the mummies stretch out their long-fingered hands, as if trying to scratch him, but as soon as they got close to Qiu Wanlan, they seemed to be burned and withdrew their claws.
The group of mummies formed a hollow circle, hesitating to approach the two people at a distance of more than a meter.
it works!
Zhang Fan was overjoyed.
"Second Aunt, is there something on you that they're afraid of?"
"I don't know." Qiu Wanlan also looked bewildered. She was only slightly relieved after realizing that the mummies really didn't dare to approach her.
“This smell…” Zhang Fan sniffed a few times. Among a group of rotting mummies, a very distinct fragrance stood out. “Is there something on you that smells so good?”
"Hmm? You mean this?" Qiu Wanlan took out a sachet from her inner clothes.
"What is this?" Zhang Fan took the sachet. The sachet was embroidered with the character "秋" (autumn), and the fragrance came from it.
"The old man gave them to us, and told us to keep them with us from a young age," Qiu Wanlan replied. "Besides me, my sister also has one."
"I see..." Zhang Fan opened the sachet, and a rich fragrance immediately wafted out.
hoarse~
After the fragrance dissipated, the mummies all retreated.
"This is it."
Zhang Fan walked forward with the sachet in his hand, while the mummies retreated. After picking up their backpacks and torches, the two walked along the bluestone path.
After walking several hundred meters, a cave with a diameter of about two meters appeared ahead, and the bluestone path led into the depths of the cave.
As they approached the edge of the cave, the number of mummies dwindled. The air roots hanging down from the cave were not infinitely long; after reaching their limit of movement on the ground, they pulled the suspended mummies back into the air, where they disappeared into the dark cave ceiling.
As the two reached the cave entrance, only one mummy remained, relentlessly following them.
Seeing this, Qiu Wanlan was finally relieved, having safely passed through the "Ghost Hand Hell". However, before she could even rejoice, she noticed that Zhang Fan suddenly turned around and walked back.
"What are you doing?" Qiu Wanlan quickly grabbed him. "That's the direction we're going."
“I know.” Zhang Fan nodded, then shook his head, pointing to the lone mummy. “I won’t be able to live with myself until I figure out what that thing is.”
"Wait for me a moment." Zhang Fan handed the sachet to Qiu Wanlan, then grabbed the shovel and headed straight for the mummy.
hoarse~
The mummy immediately lunged at Zhang Fan, who had just left the area enveloped by the scent of the sachet.
Bang!
Zhang Fan kicked the mummy to the ground and swung his shovel, severing one of the mummy's arms in one swift motion.
The mummy felt no pain and tried to lunge again, but Zhang Fan raised his foot and kicked it again, slicing off the mummy's other arm with a swish of the shovel.
The mummy struggled, and Zhang Fan quickly dislocated its legs in two more swift movements.
hoarse~
The mummy opened its massive jaws, trying to bite Zhang Fan's foot. Zhang Fan placed one foot on the mummy's chest and the other on the air vent connecting to the back of the mummy's neck, then swung his shovel and swiftly severed the upper half of the mummy's head.
I'll let you bite me!
The mummy on the ground, with only its jaw and limbs remaining, lay wriggling.
Zhang Fan firmly planted the air vent to prevent it from retracting back to the top of the cave. At the same time, he wrapped the scarf around his neck to cover his mouth and nose, and then used the sharp edge of the shovel to slowly cut open the mummy's abdomen from the middle.
As the sac was cut open, a bunch of maggot-like creatures were exposed to the air, wriggling and crawling around. This scene reminded Zhang Fan of the maggots that lived in the excrement in the dry toilets of the countryside.
Having gone through the ordeal of dissecting insects on Mars, Zhang Fan thought his tolerance was already quite high, but seeing these maggots still made him frown and feel a bit nauseous.
Suppressing the urge to vomit, Zhang Fan used the tip of his shovel to pick up one of the worms.
A thin thread attached to the insect's tail was torn off. Before Zhang Fan could even bring the insect to his eyes, it had already turned into pus in the shovel, then dripped onto the ground and disappeared.
No wonder those mummies whose vital organs were severed were reduced to mere skins; the insects inside had all turned to water.
Zhang Fan simply squatted down, used a shovel to pry open the mummy's abdominal cavity, and began to study the pile of worms.
The aerial roots extending down from the top of the cave entered the mummy's nape and split into spiderweb-like filaments, each filament connected to a worm.
These insects exhibit distinct characteristics of social organisms, much like ants, with a clear division of labor. When they move together, they mimic the peristaltic movements of human muscles, which is the source of the mummy's ability to move.
This is a special kind of organism that is both an animal and a plant, or rather, that coexists and depends on both.
Although rare in nature, it does exist; for example, Cordyceps sinensis is similar to it.
Before anyone knew it, Qiu Wanlan was already standing not far from Zhang Fan, her face pale as she squatted down and covered her mouth to stop herself from vomiting.
It must have been really tough on a woman to look at these things. Zhang Fan used a shovel to cut off the mummy's air roots, causing the insects to turn into pus and disappear.
"Let's go." Zhang Fan helped Qiu Wanlan, who was already completely exhausted, to her feet and walked towards the cave.
An airflow blew out of the cave, dispersing the foul odor left by the mummies, and Qiu Wanlan felt a little better.
"I know what those things were," Qiu Wanlan said after taking a few deep breaths of fresh air.
"You knew?" Zhang Fan was somewhat surprised.
“Since you are someone my sister has approved of, I won’t treat you as an outsider to the Qiu family. I’ll just tell you directly.” After thinking about it seriously for a moment, Qiu Wanlan said solemnly, “Those were Gu people.”
"Gu people?" Zhang Fan was stunned for a moment; this was the first time he had ever heard this term.
“This is a rather inhumane form of Gu magic. I’ve only ever read about it in books before, never seen it in person,” Qiu Wanlan said after a moment of recollection. “This kind of Gu magic involves planting Gu worms into a person’s body while they are still alive.”
"These worms will slowly devour a living person's body, leaving only an empty shell in the end."
"And when these people are in a state of suspended animation, they will be placed under the old tree of the Jiao Tu."
"The roots of old trees will invade their blood vessels from the neck. The roots grow in the blood vessels, absorbing the nutrients from the blood. Eventually, the root hairs connect with those Gu worms, and the living person becomes a Gu person."
"Gu people like to absorb yang energy, but they can only survive underground where yin energy is extremely heavy. Therefore, they are a powerful tool to prevent tomb raiders. Moreover, they are nourished by the old tree of Jiaotu. As long as the old tree does not die, Gu people can live for thousands of years."
Zhang Fan felt a chill run down his spine.
"That's incredibly vicious!"
"Otherwise what?" Qiu Wanlan tilted her head and looked at him. "Why do you think the Qiu family has been able to stand for a thousand years?"
“Without the power to protect itself, that’s called compromising, not survival.” Zhang Fan nodded in deep agreement. He now understood why the Ryan royal family was willing to grant autonomy to Xiliang Star, rather than bringing this seemingly traditional and backward planet under their complete control.
Gu magic is the nuclear weapon of Xiliang Star.
"By the way, does the Qiu family have a kind of 'love potion' that requires sexual intercourse between a man and a woman to break?"
"Where did you hear all this nonsense?"
"No?"
Depend on!
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