Beside the underground river, there were piles of white bones.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
As we walked along the riverbank, even though we were being very careful, we still couldn't help but step on these skeletons, because there were just so many of them.
Lin Que walked beside me, shining her flashlight into the gaping hole next to us, and shuddered inexplicably: "Before we entered the cave, there must have been at least a thousand human heads on the skeleton wall outside. And all the skeletons here are intact, which means that the heads outside weren't taken from here. So how many people died in this hellish place?"
"The number of corpses here is indeed beyond my imagination. If Qu Ruilin's analysis is correct, there should be at least three doors here. We have only entered the river channel so far, and we have already found so many skeletons. If they were funerary sacrifices, the scale is too large."
I paused for a moment, then continued to explain: "However, according to the legend of the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace, this tomb was built thousands of years ago, and the people of Ping'an Village have guarded the tomb for generations, constantly modifying the place. It is said that the Three Treasures Key was modified here by the tomb guardians after they discovered meteorite iron from outer space! Although the blue clay and human sacrifice jars we found outside are in the style of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, it does not mean that this tomb is from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, but rather that it has been modified over the centuries! However, the feng shui at the time of burial cannot be changed, so these people should have been buried with the Miao tribe when they built the Immortal Palace."
Song Laosan clicked his tongue in amazement: "Indeed, the further back in time the dynasty, the more ruthless the killing! Such a large-scale funerary sacrifice is quite rare in the archaeological world!"
Wei Shengnan raised her flashlight and pointed to a skeleton hanging in mid-air, saying, "These corpses were all hung up back then. I feel like this isn't some kind of funerary sacrifice, but rather some kind of punishment or ritual."
"That's possible, but there are no murals or written records here, and we can't figure out the purpose of these remains right now."
I shone my flashlight on the mountain walls on both sides and the grayish-brown cadaveric ash on the ground, and stopped in my tracks: "There are so many corpses in here, and the air circulation is very poor. There might be some toxic gases and pathogens. Everyone who has injuries or torn clothes should repair them."
Although the rat suits we wore were one-piece suits, each part was detachable. In order to prevent everyone from getting infected with the corpse poison after going in, I started to direct everyone to disinfect their clothes and skin, and at the same time change the accessories of the rat suits.
Just before I landed, my left leg was entangled by a water centipede, so my rat-skin was torn in several places, and the skin underneath looked like it had been cut by a scalpel, with several wounds. Fortunately, Qu Ruilin and Song Laosan reacted quickly, and my wounds were not very deep.
Because my leg wound had been soaked in water before, Jiang Man was worried that it might get infected, so she came over with a medical kit and said, "Lift your leg up a bit, I'll disinfect the wound for you."
"No need, I can do it myself."
I smiled at Jiang Man and was about to reach out to take the medical kit when I froze on the spot.
Seeing that my complexion was off, Jiang Man squatted down beside me and asked, "Duan Shenxing, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
I reached out and pinched my left leg, but I didn't feel any pain at all: "My left leg has lost all feeling."
Old Song was shocked: "Oh no, could it be that the water centipede was poisonous? But your wound isn't red or swollen, it doesn't look like you've been poisoned!"
Wei Shengnan took out a small bag made of yellow silk from her travel bag and walked over: "Things in the water are not ordinary things and cannot be understood with normal cognition. Let me open it and take a look."
"Gulp!"
Just as she stood up, Qu Ruilin, who was standing next to her, also collapsed, a look of horror flashing in his eyes: "Not only Duan Shenxing, but I've also lost feeling in my right leg! The rest of you should check this out too. This isn't caused by the water centipede; there's something wrong here!"
Song Laosan patted himself all over and then slapped his thigh: "Holy crap! Now that you mention it, I realize I can't feel my butt! No matter how I twist it, it doesn't hurt! Is it because the air here contains a paralyzing substance that our gas masks can't block?"
I lay on the ground, looking at Jiang Man with concern: "You should also check yourself to see if there are any problems with your body."
"I'm fine, everything's normal!"
Jiang Man shook her head: "Have you noticed that those who are having problems now are all from your first ship? What you all have in common is that you all fell into the water!"
"Jade Insect!"
After listening to Jiang Man's explanation, it suddenly dawned on me: "The places where we lost consciousness are the same places where we found the jade worms, which means the problem lies with those worms!"
"No wonder Duan Jinyan abandoned his companions before. He probably knew that these insects had a paralyzing effect, so he didn't bring any burdens with him."
Qu Ruilin was the first to speak: "Among the things we just encountered, the water centipede was very aggressive. Combined with the jade worm that can paralyze the human body, it was enough to kill most of the intruders who entered the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace through the underground river! However, the wound on Shao Bang's (a member of the Wei family) arm should not have been caused by the water centipede, which means there must be something else in that river."
"The most urgent task is to find a way to detoxify!"
Wei Shengnan helped Qu Ruilin up, then opened the brocade pouch and took out a small porcelain bottle: "This contains the Wei family's secret medicine, Five Herbs and Hundred Flowers Paste, which can slow down the spread of toxins in the blood. You should all take some, and remember to put on your gas masks after you finish, and be careful not to inhale the toxic gas."
After listening to Wei Shengnan's words, Jiang Man used a collapsible cup to dissolve the ointment in water and made me swallow it.
At this point, apart from losing feeling in my left leg, I was perfectly fine. I felt neither pain nor itching. After waiting for about five minutes, I pressed down on my left leg, but still felt nothing.
Song Laosan patted his bottom and turned to Wei Shengnan: "Wei girl, how long does it take for this ointment to take effect? I haven't felt anything after taking it."
Wei Shengnan looked us over: "Wuzhi Baihua Ointment is a good detoxifying medicine, especially effective against paralyzing toxins. In theory, it should provide relief in about a minute as it circulates in the blood, and spread throughout the body in three minutes. Don't any of you feel anything?"
Qu Ruilin shook his head and sighed, "After my leg lost sensation, it didn't spread, and I didn't feel anything special. I suspect that the insect released some kind of neurotoxin, not blood toxin. Your medicine may not work."
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