Chapter 137: The Bronze-Helmeted Man

Zhang Qinglin sat on the ground, looking around in bewilderment. He was currently in a tomb tunnel, and everything from before had vanished.

Chi Tan said this tomb tunnel was located beneath the Luo River, though no one knew their exact current location.

Zhang Qinglin still looked at Chi Tan incredulously, unable to shake off the lingering trauma of the giant centipede.

Aside from Chi Tan and Jiang Xinyue, everyone else was present as well. Bai Weiwei was leaning weakly against the opposite side, while Cheng Che and Hu Geming stood in the middle of the tunnel's front right, locked in a standoff with Wu Guangen and his men.

At that moment, pain flared in Zhang Qinglin's head once again. He touched his head, and a large lump had already risen on the back of his skull.

Chi Tan told Zhang Qinglin that after they entered that passage, they walked for a very long time. The cave tunnel was pitch black, and the subsequent path was exceptionally difficult to navigate. Just as they reached a fractured gap, Zhang Qinglin lost his footing, plunged straight down, and crashed heavily onto a large rock in the tomb tunnel, knocking him unconscious.

Cheng Che and the others happened to be walking at the front of the tomb tunnel. Hearing a commotion behind them, they realized it was Zhang Qinglin and his group, and rescued him. Hu Geming said Zhang Qinglin couldn't be woken up and likely had a concussion, making it impossible for him to travel, so he told everyone to stay put and rest.

Later, they discovered the man in white, who lured everyone out of the tomb tunnel and vanished right before a burial chamber.

At the time, Hu Geming glanced around and said that burial chamber might be a death trap rigged with mechanisms and snares, urging everyone to leave immediately.

Just as Hu Geming's voice trailed off, a small circle of green flame appeared on the stone wall before them.

The flame slowly extended outward, its shifting form eventually outlining a human figure. This figure was missing a foot and walked slowly within the wall surface.

Everyone present was startled. Zhang Qinglin had still been unconscious at the time, so he knew nothing about it.

Especially Chi Tan—upon seeing this strange human figure, its movements, and its posture, it was unmistakably the very person who had died right before his eyes just moments ago, one of Wu Guangen's subordinates.

"Don't look at it! Be careful not to get sucked into its body!" Hu Geming produced a packet of powder and threw it all across the stone wall with a wave of his hand.

They saw the flame figure on the stone wall immediately dodge. Wherever the powder touched, a wisp of greenish-blue smoke rose. Following the smoke, a streak of blood appeared on the stone wall, instantly releasing a foul, sickening stench of blood.

Just as they turned around to leave, an iron net dropped from above behind them, sealing them inside.

"Xinyue, watch out!" Cheng Che shouted loudly.

Jiang Xinyue stood frozen in place, still staring blankly at the stone wall, having no idea what had just transpired in the span of a moment.

Before she could react to Cheng Che's shout, she was shoved by Cheng Che against the wall beside them. Cheng Che kicked out with his right foot, launching that ball of green flame away.

Immediately afterward, Hu Geming cast a cold, fierce gaze at Chi Tan, instantly grabbing his shoulders and hurling him away from the wall surface. With a single kick, he stamped the green flame—which was just about to protrude from the wall—back into the masonry and sprinkled powder over it.

In a split second, a barrage of whistling sounds echoed as countless balls of flame flew toward them. Bai Weiwei's eyes flashed as she dodged back and forth. With her injured foot, a mistimed dodge caused her to stumble and fall to the ground.

Hu Geming dodged to the side, but still narrowly avoided having his arm scorched by a flame ball.

"Bearded, hurry up and check what other mechanisms are over there! These damn fireballs are multiplying!" Cheng Che shouted.

Chi Tan stepped forward to help Bai Weiwei up. When she raised her head, her eyes reflected numerous flame balls resembling will-o'-the-wisps.

Hu Geming approached the wall and felt around, leaving no corner unchecked, until his fingers finally brushed against a protruding stone. His expression changed slightly as he roared at them, "Get over here! Quick, everyone get over to me!"

At that exact moment, a fireball hurtled straight toward Zhang Qinglin's head. Jiang Xinyue threw her body in front of him in a panic.

Cheng Che spun around and kicked the fireball away with a flying side kick.

The two of them hurriedly helped Zhang Qinglin up and made their way toward Hu Geming, while Chi Tan and Bai Weiwei ran over as well.

In his fluster, Hu Geming pressed the protruding stone, opening a human-sized breach in the stone wall beside them. The group hurriedly dashed out.

Once outside that stone wall, they swiftly fled the tomb tunnel that had been spitting out fireballs.

However, they found themselves entering another pitch-black tomb tunnel.

Cheng Che unscrewed his flashlight and swept the beam around. Inside this space sat a coffin, with a set of armor erected before it, covered in a thick layer of dust. Flanking it were various weapons, and beside the weapons sat several chests. It appeared this was the tomb of a general.

Hu Geming was visibly shocked upon seeing this tomb. He had originally thought—given Second Master's claims—that the ancient Luo River tomb held countless treasures, as well as the object he was looking for.

Yet this burial chamber was crude beyond compare and desperately shabby. Could these rusted, worthless weapons possibly be the treasure they were searching for? This left him utterly speechless.

Chi Tan lit a candle, and the burial chamber instantly brightened.

"I was wondering where all the candles went! So you guys had them!"

Bai Weiwei leaned against the coffin, glanced over, and said, "I gave them to him."

Cheng Che stood before the coffin, staring at it for a long time. He had intended to open the coffin and see if there were any valuable treasures hidden inside.

Mainly because he hadn't seen anything valuable in this burial chamber; even that set of armor, though precious, who would actually want to lug it out?

"None of you better go messing with things, unless you want a zombie popping out!" Hu Geming rummaged through the weapons for a long time without finding anything, then walked over to the coffin and glared at them as he spoke.

Cheng Che rolled his eyes at him and retorted, "Who are you trying to scare? Where would a zombie even come from?"

Hu Geming shook his head with an expression of utter disdain.

Suddenly, a loud crashing noise echoed from outside the stone door they had just entered through, as if someone was violently hammering against the stone barrier.

Bai Weiwei looked toward the stone door and said, "It's no longer safe here. Big Beard, hurry up, think of a way out of here first."

Hu Geming nodded. He swept his gaze across the chamber and finally spotted a concealed door off to his right.

He pushed the concealed door open and beckoned to Bai Weiwei and the others. Cheng Che blew out the candle, and together with Chi Tan, they supported Zhang Qinglin and followed behind Bai Weiwei out of the burial chamber.

Just as they left, a white shadow flickered across the burial chamber, the coffin lid cracked open by a sliver, and a bloody hand reached out from within the casket.

After exiting the burial chamber, they walked along a side tunnel. They hadn't gone far when Chi Tan suddenly stepped into empty air, sliding down a slope and landing squarely on a hard rock pillar. Wincing with twitching lips from the pain, Chi Tan flashed his flashlight forward.

"Ah..."

Shrieking in sheer terror, Chi Tan sat straight up.

Before him was a terrifying skull, its hollow eye sockets staring blankly right at him.

What he had just touched was the pale arm bone beneath the skull, with a broken sword plunged deep into the ribcage of the skeleton.

Zhang Qinglin noticed a skeleton lying not far from them. The skeleton was dressed in tattered, modern clothing, with a broken sword stabbed straight through its chest.

Zhang Qinglin glanced at the skeleton and asked, "Chi Tan, is this the skeleton you were talking about?"

Chi Tan nodded vigorously. Jiang Xinyue didn't dare look at the skeleton anymore, squatting down to the side with her head bowed.

Zhang Qinglin climbed to his feet, walked over to the skeleton, and looked it up and down. The degree of decomposition suggested this skeleton had been here for a dozen years or so. It bore multiple fatal wounds, its clothes were shredded, and the broken sword looked as though it had been stabbed in after death. Judging by the equipment, it didn't seem like the person had come alone.

Zhang Qinglin said perplexedly, "He's wearing modern clothes, and he has a backpack and a rifle."

Zhang Qinglin wanted to find something on the skeleton to verify its identity, but after searching for a long time, he found nothing at all.

Bai Weiwei staggered up behind Zhang Qinglin, steadying herself against the stone wall as a gleam flashed in her eyes. "Xiaolinzi, I found this on him. It should be related to your father. There's a piece of paper here with writing on it."

Zhang Qinglin turned his head and saw Bai Weiwei handing him a bronze fish coin and a severely crumpled piece of paper. The paper bore only two lines of writing: Deliver the third one to Zhang Chuyang, ensure nothing goes wrong.

Zhang Qinglin held the bronze fish coin in his hand, examining it closely. This bronze fish coin was almost identical to the one Uncle Jiang had received that day—scaled on both sides, the scales oval-shaped, with an unforked tail. However, there were no beads in the fish's eyes; the beadless eye sockets were hollow, as if stripped of their soul.

"What connection does my father have to this bronze fish coin? Why hand this thing over to Father? This is the third one—aside from the one in Uncle Jiang's hands and this one, how many more bronze fish coins are out there?" Zhang Qinglin asked himself blankly, casting another glance at the skeleton.

Hu Geming bellowed, "Dammit! I said that in this tomb, if you want to walk out alive, you have to listen to me! Right now, the people and things you want are no longer up to you to decide—unless you have the life to make it out alive, otherwise don't try any clever tricks in front of me!"

Wu Guangen glared, cursing viciously, "Damn it, cut the crap! It's not yet certain who will survive until the end."

As they bickered back and forth, the group started throwing blows. The fight grew increasingly ferocious, and soon Cheng Che was beaten to a pulp by Wu Guangen's subordinates, left with no room to retaliate.

Zhang Qinglin wanted to step in and help, but the moment he rose to his feet, the entire tomb tunnel began to shake.

Standing in the middle of the tomb tunnel, Cheng Che watched in absolute horror as, from behind the crowd, a pair of blood-drenched hands with splayed fingers reached out toward the back of one of Wu Guangen's subordinates, instantly clamping around his neck.

With a tense expression, Wu Guangen watched those bloody hands grip the man's throat so hard they practically hoisted him up and dragged him toward the darkness.

When everyone else turned their gaze toward the dark depths of the tomb tunnel:

The man was being choked by a towering monster covered in total rot, its features entirely indistinguishable. The monster was also violently shaking the man's head.

The man was held in a death grip by that bloody hand, his breathing growing weaker and weaker.

A sharp "crack" echoed.

The man's neck had been snapped!

Zhang Qinglin realized the rotting monster was not the man in white. This monster wore a bronze helmet on its head, though not the kind worn by ordinary soldiers.

Amidst the shaking of the tomb tunnel, the monster's hollow eye sockets stared fixedly at everyone in the corridor.

It stepped into the crowd, its grotesque visage glaring at Cheng Che and the others. One bloody hand shot out instantly and clamped around the neck of the man standing beside Wu Guangen.

With a gentle exertion of strength, the monster hoisted the man into the air, rendering all of his frantic punching and kicking completely useless.

It lifted him higher than its head, then violently hurled him down onto the stone floor.

Just as the monster raised its heavy foot to stomp down, Wu Guangen lunged forward and yanked the man out from beneath the monster's foot.

The moment the monster's foot hit the ground, it turned its attention to Cheng Che.

Before Cheng Che could react, those bloody hands had already seized his shoulders and hoisted him up.

"Damn it! Hu Geming, don't you dare run away, you bastard! Come back and save me!" Cheng Che clawed at the monster's heavy, bloody hands with both of his own, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Wu Guangen and his subordinates bolted toward the tomb tunnel exit behind Zhang Qinglin.

Hu Geming reached Bai Weiwei's side, grabbed her arm, and headed in that direction as well.

Panic-stricken, Jiang Xinyue pressed herself against the stone wall, staring with terror-filled eyes at Cheng Che suspended in mid-air. She shouted to Zhang Qinglin, "What do we do, Big Brother? Think of something, quick!"

Zhang Qinglin grabbed Jiang Xinyue, handed her over to Chi Tan standing beside them, and told the two of them, "Chi Tan, take Yueyue and go first."

With a single stride, Zhang Qinglin charged toward the monster.

Chi Tan desperately grabbed Jiang Xinyue, dragging her toward the tomb tunnel exit.

"Old Zhang, save me! I'm about to be killed by this disgusting bastard!" One of Cheng Che's shoulders was tightly gripped by the monster, his voice growing fainter.

At that moment, the monster's other hand locked around his neck, turning his face crimson and stripping his limbs of the strength for a final struggle.

Wielding a long saber, Zhang Qinglin swung it with all his might, hacking at the monster's arm, then bringing another slash down across its chest. The monster let out a frenzied roar and flung its arm, tossing Cheng Che away.

Cheng Che crashed against the stone wall and rolled from the wall down onto the ground.

Zhang Qinglin glanced over and asked, "Cheng Che, how are you holding up?"

Cheng Che lay sprawled on the ground without moving for a long time. Hearing Zhang Qinglin's voice, he clutched his chest and his bleeding shoulder, slowly pushing himself back up.

"Old Zhang, if you'd been even one second later, your brother here would have gone off to report to King Yama."