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墨書 Inktalez
At that moment, the Quicksand in front of Liuzi suddenly shifted, as if something had darted up from below at an incredible speed. Liuzi turned his head in its direction, and that thing immediately froze in place. He raised his arm, ready to pounce on it, but to his surprise, it seemed to have eyes of its own and dove straight into the sand, disappearing from sight.
A Li gasped, "What was that just now?"
Everyone looked bewildered, a hint of worry creeping in. After all, they were trapped in the Quicksand and couldn't dare to move. If they encountered a tricky situation, they would be completely defenseless.
Only Liuzi took a deep breath and casually said, "It was probably a rat!"
The junior disciple who hadn’t gone into the water leaned back against the door frame with his arms crossed, looking relaxed. "So your master was dragged away by a rat?"
Liuzi was momentarily speechless, struggling to find words. Just then, A Li suddenly screamed. Everyone turned to look; that thing had reappeared, circling around just an inch away from A Li's chest.
Liuzi let out a shrill cry from his throat, "Catch it! Quickly catch it!" His excitement caused the upper layer of Quicksand to shift again, sinking several centimeters deeper. He dared not move recklessly anymore and widened his eyes, urging A Li to act quickly.
A Li held her hands up uselessly, seemingly oblivious to Liuzi's words or too frightened to take action. The more anxious she became, the faster the Quicksand sank around her; in the blink of an eye, it was up to her armpits.
My heart raced wildly as I immediately swam over to A Li. A Chen, who was closest, also came over to help, but neither dared to make any sudden movements. The scene was quite comical; although both were desperate, their bodies moved slower than a slow-motion film—creating a stark contrast reminiscent of a Charlie Chaplin silent film.
But at that moment, no one was laughing.
In just a meter of distance, it took A Chen and me nearly three minutes to "swim" over. With a splat, we landed lightly and pressed our four hands down on that round object simultaneously, blocking its escape route.
A Chen and I exchanged glances and nervously swallowed hard; our palms were sweaty as if it were raining. I whispered, "On the count of three, let’s grab it together!"
A Chen nodded lightly. I mouthed the numbers: "One, two, three!" Our four hands reached down at once and wrapped around a ball of red sand about the size of a melon. The Quicksand began to flow gradually through our fingers; the more we grabbed it, the more it slipped away until finally—what the heck—it turned out to be empty!
"Ouch! Damn it! Something bit me!" Liuzi shouted as his body instinctively twisted. He sank down several more centimeters into the Quicksand, which was nearly up to his chin.
At that moment, I felt a sharp pain on my back as something bit me. The hook of that thing was incredibly strong; just as I registered the sensation, a piece of flesh was torn away from me.
“A Li!” Seeing my expression, he realized I had also been bitten, and his face showed clear distress. I quickly said, “It’s okay, let’s head back! Dui, throw the rope over!”
At that moment, A Chen exclaimed in pain, having been bitten as well. His face contorted in agony, beads of sweat rolling down like marbles, yet he gritted his teeth and dared not move.
My junior swiftly tossed the Safety Rope over. I instructed A Li to grab it first, while Old Qiao and my junior pulled horizontally. However, A Li was stuck too deep; it wasn’t easy to pull him out.
The creature below seemed to sense that its prey was about to escape and began attacking more frantically. The sandy surface stirred violently as fist-sized Quicksand blobs darted around like moles, and there were definitely more than a hundred of them! The numbers lurking deeper in the Quicksand were likely even more astonishing!
Cold sweat broke out all over me. What on earth were these things? With such a coordinated attack, even if they were just rats, they could easily kill us!
Suddenly, dozens of hooks bit into me almost simultaneously, tearing at my flesh like a slow execution. Damn it, the pain made me feel like tears were about to burst forth!
A Chen was experiencing the same torment; he let out a whimper that sounded like a mix of crying and calling for help. His body remained frozen in place, completely at the mercy of whatever was attacking him. Unable to hold back any longer, he cursed through gritted teeth, “What the hell! When did I ever… endure this kind of humiliation! What the hell are these things? Why do they only bite people… on the ass!”
In the midst of our panic, my junior asked anxiously, “Is it coming from the front or the back?”
With gritted teeth, A Chen cursed back, “Shut your damn mouth! If I die… even as a ghost I won’t let you off!” Just then, he sank a little deeper and quickly shut his mouth.
I wanted to tell him not to say such defeatist things at this moment. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw A Li shifting slightly but still spinning in place. My heart sank; at this rate, we might really die here.
Poor me, Qian Yi; I hadn’t even held a girl’s hand or kissed anyone yet, and here I was about to die for nothing. Damn it, how could I face my short-lived father in the afterlife!
As these thoughts raced through my mind, I suddenly felt a surge of determination. I quickly changed my tone and steadied my breathing as I sank down a few centimeters more. I dared not make any sudden movements and said through clenched teeth to everyone, “What’s this talk about dying? No defeatist talk! We’re just too passive right now; we need to pull this thing out… dying without knowing how is what truly counts as humiliation!” Just then, I felt bites on my legs and stomach simultaneously; damn it, my scalp tingled as tears welled up.
“Damn it! I’ve got it!” A Chen managed to squeeze out those words just as something moved in front of him. He lifted an arm from beneath the sand and thrust his body forward, revealing his shoulder. He hurriedly gasped for air and opened his palm to reveal a black beetle the size of a duck egg. Its shell was split into two glossy black halves that emitted a faint blue glow. It had two menacing pincers at one end and a short pointed tail resembling that of a tortoise at the other end—no eyes and many legs.
My heart raced; wasn’t this… “Isn’t this the Corpse Bug?!” My junior blurted out.
“Corpse Bug? What’s a Corpse Bug?” A Chen shook his arm violently, causing the Corpse Bug to drop and quickly disappear into the Quicksand.
My junior explained, “It’s a bug that specifically feeds on corpses; it has two hooks on its mouth—one hook equals one piece of meat!”
“It’s pincers!” Old Qiao corrected immediately.
The first time I encountered the Corpse Bug was beneath Emerald Villa. There were waves of them, piled on top of each other to a height of nearly half a person, their eerie green glow filling my vision as they surged toward us like the rising tide… Even now, thinking back on that scene sends chills down my spine.
I couldn't believe that such creatures existed here! And they were scuttling around right beneath our feet and inside our clothes!
My junior brother stood there, unconcerned, and scoffed, “Who cares? They’re all the same! The Corpse Bug not only feeds on decaying flesh but also reproduces at an astonishing rate—one becomes two, two become four, four become sixteen… endlessly! It must have been that Flathead that attracted them! But don’t worry; these bugs aren’t poisonous. Your flesh is thick enough that a few bites won’t matter!”
Though he said that, his hands were working hard, pulling with all his might. Eventually, he tossed the rope to Old Qiao and leaned against the doorframe, stretching out to grab A Li’s arm and pulling her into his embrace with great effort. After much struggle, he finally managed to rescue A Li.
Liuzi had gone down first and was farthest from the Copper Door. At this moment, he grumbled, “It’s not like a few bites won’t hurt!”
My junior brother smiled knowingly, “You think too highly of yourself! A Li’s delicate skin is nothing like yours!”
Liuzi wanted to argue further when suddenly he yelped in pain; he had been bitten again. A Chen and I were not faring any better; our bodies were riddled with holes, we could practically bubble if we were thrown into a river.
At this point, I sensed something was off. Thinking of Cold Bench and Third Granduncle Master —those two were the best fighters among us and had sharp minds. There was no way they could have been bitten by the Corpse Bugs before us; where could they have gone?
Moreover, the Corpse Bugs we encountered were nearly the size of duck eggs, indicating they had feasted on plenty of decaying flesh. But how could just one Flathead’s corpse sustain them so well? Could it be… there are tunnels beneath this sand? Perhaps a Burning Pit?
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