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墨書 Inktalez
The cave was stiflingly hot, and the woman's screams grew closer and closer. At the end of the cave, a crimson light appeared, flickering like a sun in the distance.
"Ah!"
"This is bad! Hold on! Don't let go!"
"You need to go! Don't worry about me!" The woman's voice sounded muffled through the gas mask. It turned out that this cave was a dead end. The woman was hanging at the entrance, being desperately pulled by a soldier in military uniform, but his hands seemed injured and he could barely muster any strength.
"I can't. I promised the captain that I would get you out. Hold on—"
Bai Zhuo and Wang Tao heard the commotion ahead and rushed forward.
"It's coming! It's coming!" the woman shouted. The soldier suddenly heard footsteps behind him and felt a surge of hope. "Hold on! Someone is coming to rescue us! Your research results are highly valued by the country! They need talents like you!"
After turning a corner, Bai Zhuo and Wang Tao finally spotted the two figures. Waves of heat blew from the cave entrance as they ran over and grabbed the woman's hands with all their might.
"Magma?" "Magma?" Bai Zhuo and Wang Tao looked down, realizing that below them flowed a river of magma!
The crimson magma writhed slowly, occasionally bubbling up; a silvery liquid floated on top—mercury!
"There should be a dead volcano or a dormant volcano nearby. We actually have a volcano here in Jiangnan Ningcheng?" Wang Tao muttered in disbelief.
"Stop thinking! We need to save her first!" Bai Zhuo shouted.
Three men pulled a woman, and it was quite easy, especially since she wasn't very heavy. The woman was quickly yanked up. It was extremely hot here, and she had stripped off several layers of clothing, leaving only a thermal shirt. Her figure was decent, but she wore a gas mask that obscured her face.
Having narrowly escaped death, the woman gasped, "Quick! Run! It's coming!"
"What?" Wang Tao asked.
Bai Zhuo recalled the pile of corpses they had just seen. "It's a Zombie! We need to get out of here!"
The four of them stood up and began to head back.
"Grumble."
There was a noise. Bai Zhuo froze and cautiously looked down. Suddenly, his pupils constricted. "What's wrong?" Wang Tao asked.
Bai Zhuo suddenly shouted, "Damn it! It's a Flying Corpse—no, it's Five Element Ba! Run! Run!" His desperate scream echoed beneath the gas mask; though muffled, they could all sense the deep fear in Bai Zhuo's voice.
Wang Tao was the first to react, bolting away! It was no joke; if even Bai Zhuo, a Yin-Yang Master, was terrified of this "Ba," what chance did Wang Tao, just a Tomb Raider, have against it? Ink Fighting Thread? Glutinous Rice? Judging by Bai Zhuo's reaction, those things would be useless against this monster!
The woman moved swiftly, following closely behind. The injured warrior grabbed Bai Zhuo and the two of them raced after her in a frantic escape.
"What is Ba? Isn't it a Zombie?" The warrior had good stamina and managed to speak clearly while running. He asked, "Does it have any weaknesses? Half my team has fallen to it!"
"Ba is a type of Zombie," Bai Zhuo replied breathlessly as they ran. "But it's different from regular Zombies; Zombies are mindless monsters without thought, but Ba has intelligence!" He continued, "Ba is divided into five elements. If you don't know its elemental attribute, it's invincible. I saw it... it smiled at me from the Magma; it shouldn't be fire-elemental!"
"Not fire-elemental? But it isn't afraid of fire! Why isn't it fire-elemental? If it were water or something else, it would have melted by now!"
Bai Zhuo's lung capacity couldn't keep up as he shook his head. "It's hard to explain right now. Let's get out first... Can you contact Cai Wenwu?"
"The captain? He came in too?" A soldier helped the woman up a steep ninety-degree slope and then lifted Bai Zhuo, explaining, "I can't reach him. There's no signal inside the cave."
"There's no other way; let's just get out for now!"
It was hard to imagine that deep within this ancient tomb lay magma, and without the presence of Ba, things had escalated. Bai Zhuo's heart was turbulent as they ran for about ten minutes before the four finally reached the fork where they had entered.
Just as Bai Zhuo was about to breathe a sigh of relief, a shout of curses echoed from a nearby cave entrance, spoken in Japanese.
"You all go ahead! Completely seal off this cave when you reach the surface!" Bai Zhuo called out, stopping in his tracks.
The woman and the soldier understood the danger posed by the Zombie and wasted no time fleeing back the way they came. Wang Tao wanted to follow them but was suddenly grabbed by Bai Zhuo. "Wang Tao! Come with me!"
"Huh?" Wang Tao looked bitterly resigned, unable to resist as Bai Zhuo pulled him toward another cave entrance.
"We're going to save someone; I'm worried there might be traps!"
Wang Tao was very reluctant, but there was no choice; under the eaves, one had to bow their head. He had to obey Bai Zhuo, especially since he still had a gun on him.
The flagstone floor beneath their feet was extremely slippery, completely different from the hot cave they had just been in.
Boom—! A loud explosion sounded, and the ground began to shake. Dust fell from above, covering both of them. Fortunately, they were wearing gas masks, which protected them from some of the debris.
Wang Tao steadied himself against the wall. "Was that a grenade? Who used a grenade?!"
"Damn it, aren't we supposed to avoid heavy firepower?" Bai Zhuo grumbled, carrying his backpack and gripping the Thunderwood Sword tightly, adjusting the two High-Explosive Grenades tucked under his arm. "Shit, if the ancient tomb collapses, we're all done for! Hurry, let's keep moving forward."
Wang Tao was cautious, afraid that a single misstep could trigger a trap. However, after they had walked for a while, they suddenly encountered another fork in the path ahead.
"What should we do?" Bai Zhuo asked, but before he could react, he stepped on a hidden stone slab beneath his feet! Before he could process what was happening, he heard a rumble behind him as a massive stone slab fell from above, sealing off their way back. The sound of Kagura Keiha's curses echoed from another direction entirely, far from where they stood!
"Damn it... what's going on..." Bai Zhuo felt a surge of anxiety as Wang Tao delivered more bad news: "Oh no, it's a maze!"
Mazes weren't inherently frightening; what was terrifying was being trapped inside one. Once inside, they either had to find an exit or perish within its confines. With their only escape route blocked off, they had no choice but to move forward.
Bai Zhuo regretted not bringing Peacock along; if she were here, she could have scouted ahead. Unfortunately, it was too late for that now.
As he hesitated, the ground began to tremble again. Dust and debris fell from above, sand and small stones getting caught in their hair and collars, making them uncomfortable.
"Let's go. I'm worried the ancient tomb is about to collapse. Staying here is just waiting to die; we might as well take a chance!" Wang Tao urged.
Bai Zhuo nodded in agreement. "Let's go."
The two entered the maze. Deep within the dark labyrinth, something seemed to be welcoming their arrival. (To be continued.)
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