Chapter 124: Meeting Han Jian Again

When I heard the term “Corpse Beetle,” I froze for a moment. I wasn’t entirely sure what the experts meant by that name, but seeing these creatures that could “turn into” stones, I instinctively thought of some kind of arthropod scavenger. Once they unfolded, they looked far too much like living shrimp with fangs.

“These aren’t Corpse Beetles. They are Stone Horseshoe Crab Insects. Their eyesight is poor, but their hearing is very sensitive. We need to leave this place quickly,” Chen Canghai said in a very low whisper.

He spoke with great urgency, leaving both He Yu and me stunned. We quickly clamped our mouths shut and immediately followed Lu A’yao’s lead, pressing ourselves against the wall and slowly shuffling forward along the waterway behind them.

The beam of my flashlight remained fixed on those stones that would twitch every now and then. The further we went, the denser the stones became. These Stone Horseshoe Crab Insects looked so much like ordinary rocks that it was impossible to tell which was a bug and which was an actual stone.

The four of us kept our backs to the wall. Because of those Stone Horseshoe Crab Insects, Lu A’yao picked up the pace, walking for over twenty minutes in one go. My chest began to heave violently with the effort. Finally, just a second before my strength gave out entirely, I looked up and saw steps made of Blue Stone Slabs leading upward.

This was an incline, with perhaps over a thousand steps in total.

Chen Canghai went up the steps first, then turned back to haul He Yu and me out of the corpse oil one by one. We didn’t have time to clean the filth off ourselves, quickly scrambling up another hundred meters on all fours.

Only when we reached a relatively dry area did Lu A’yao suggest we stop.

He Yu ripped the cloth from his face and rubbed the corpse water off his shoes against a rock, cursing, “Damn it! What kind of hellish sewer is this? It’s just a flooded sacrificial pit. Disgusting. I’ve never been in a place this foul!”

I sat on the ground to catch my breath and said, “Don’t be so sure. Based on the structure of the Underground Palace, this place might not have been flooded in the early years. We haven’t seen any specific areas for human sacrifice along the way, so it’s possible this entire tunnel is one giant burial trench. There are likely corpses buried under everything here.”

“And they’re goddamn child corpses!” He Yu spat.

The stuff we’d picked up in the water was incredibly greasy and nauseating. I followed He Yu’s example and rubbed myself against the wall. Just then, I noticed Lu A’yao suddenly seemed to sense something. He shone his flashlight toward the Blue Stone Slabs ahead.

This path was carved above the waterway. After the hundred meters of stone steps, there was a turn, and the other half was almost entirely level ground. Lu A’yao was currently aiming his light at that turn hidden in the darkness.

Watching his movements, my nerves tightened instantly. My heart leaped into my throat and began drumming against my ribs. Had he found more of those Stone Horseshoe Crab Insects?

To my surprise, after only three or four seconds, another strong beam of light shot out from the far end of Lu A’yao’s flashlight beam.

There was someone there!

My heart went cold, and I instinctively reached for the knife at my waist. I was terrified we had run into Qiao Sangui and his gang of thugs again. They were far scarier than any Stone Horseshoe Crab Insect. If we really crossed paths, given the grudge I’d settled with him before, a lethal shootout was entirely possible.

I stared intently at the corner. A relatively unfamiliar face rounded the bend from the other side. He was covered in blood and his face was bruised, but he became incredibly excited the moment he saw us. After a quick thought, I remembered him. This was one of the brothers Han Jian had brought along!

He waved at us and hurriedly shouted behind him, “Brother Han! I found them! We’re saved!”

“Oh? It’s that kid Han Jian!” He Yu had been rubbing against the wall like a bear with an itch, but he stopped the moment he saw the man.

Hearing this, Lu A’yao was the first to go forward to meet them. Chen Canghai didn’t follow immediately, instead glancing back at me. I hadn’t expected to run into Han Jian in such a vast place, and I couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement. My exhaustion was forgotten as I hurried forward, gesturing for Chen Canghai and He Yu to follow.

After rounding the corner, the stone path ahead suddenly became incredibly crowded. Han Jian had far fewer men left now. Only a few scattered individuals were leaning against the sides of the stone path, their heads and legs covered in various injuries.

Seeing a familiar face in such a place was enough to bring tears to anyone’s eyes. Some of them weren’t even that close to us and we had barely spoken before, but perhaps because living souls were so rare in the Underground Palace, they pushed through their pain to come up and give us a hug.

He Yu thrived in these kinds of situations. Sentimental words poured out of him without a second thought, and within two or three sentences, he had people on the verge of tears.

Han Jian had the fewest injuries. His outer jacket had been torn into shreds, so he was just wearing the short-sleeved shirt underneath, with one arm wrapped in gauze.

I could tell they must have encountered a very difficult situation and survived a bitter struggle. Their casualties were severe, forcing them to hide here and rest.

Lu A’yao exchanged a few brief words with him, and then Han Jian came toward me. Just as I was about to speak, he gave me a sudden, violent hug, thumping my back so hard that the noodles I’d eaten earlier nearly came back up.

Then he let me go and gave He Yu a bear hug as well.

“I’m only realizing now how important it is to have you guys in the group!” After hugging us, Han Jian wiped his eyes. He looked genuinely distressed.

My head was full of questions. What happened? Was our appearance really that moving to him? Had his conscience finally kicked in, making him realize how good I was?

“Ever since we split up with you, our luck has been in a downward spiral. First, the stone cliff sank, and we had no choice but to jump into the water. We ended up being sucked into a crack and washed into a pool of black water. Who knew that black pool was filled with Stone Horseshoe Crab Insects? Several brothers were bitten to death in an instant.”

My heart skipped a beat as I listened. A pool? Could it be that they fell into the same pool I did? I vaguely remembered that the water in that pool had indeed been unnaturally black.

I shifted my gaze and happened to lock eyes with Lu A’yao, who was standing behind Han Jian. He looked at me for a moment before looking away. I was now seventy or eighty percent certain. It seemed the place where I fell off the stone pillar was the same location Han Jian was describing.

So those dark things I saw floating on the water were likely Stone Horseshoe Crab Insects. Since they didn’t bite me, I let out a long sigh of relief, realizing I’d actually been quite lucky.

Han Jian continued, “Once we finally managed to scramble ashore, those insects chased us into a wider stone passage. We found another open space at the end of it, with a Buddhist Pagoda standing right in the center. We entered the stone passage labyrinth through the top of the pagoda.”

Based on his description of the Buddhist Pagoda’s location, it didn’t seem to be the same one we had encountered earlier. I wondered if this place contained countless small cavities, each housing a ghost Buddha dozens of meters tall.

Han Jian and his group were smart enough not to stop and worship the Buddha, heading straight into the labyrinth behind it instead. However, according to him, the real despair began once they were inside. They wandered in circles, and just as they finally started to discern some patterns, the labyrinth’s routes automatically shifted and scrambled. Eventually, they lost all sense of where they were.

I stole another glance at Lu A’yao. The one responsible for all this was currently staring upward, appearing to study the patterns on the ceiling of the stone passage.

He’s just putting on an act, I thought to myself.