"Something's not right!"
I rushed to the coffin and peered inside, my brow furrowed.
"What's wrong?" Fatty asked.
"Fatty, what is this coffin for?" I asked.
"To hold dead people, of course!"
"But did you see any dead people?" I asked.
At my question, Fatty finally realized, "Right! There's no body in this coffin? Those grave robbers are too unethical! They didn't even spare the bodies?"
I shook my head. "No... grave robbers wouldn't take bodies... something is strange about this place."
"What's strange?" Fatty asked.
I surveyed the tomb chamber again. It was about seventy square meters, with nothing particularly out of the ordinary. Apart from the tunnel, there were no other signs of damage.
If someone had indeed come to rob graves, how did they know there was a tomb here?
Moreover, this place was so remote. Locals like Ah Shui rarely came here, let alone to rob graves.
To discover an ancient tomb in this location and then come to plunder it clearly indicated premeditation; at the very least, they knew there was an ancient tomb here.
Who could the grave robbers be?
They even took away the bodies?
And that mysterious old man, was he the mastermind behind the grave robbing?
As I was pondering, Ah Shui suddenly shouted, "Who's there?!"
His shout, full of vigor, startled me.
When I shone my flashlight in that direction, I saw him darting into a narrow passage further away.
"Fatty, follow me!"
I shouted and quickly followed Ah Shui.
This passage was very narrow; I hadn't noticed it when we first came in.
The walls of the passage were damp, and almost everything I touched was wet.
Squeezing through, we soon arrived at an antechamber. It was empty, with nothing inside, and water was constantly dripping from the ceiling.
Ah Shui stood in the center of the antechamber, looking around. I went over and asked him what was going on.
He furrowed his brow and said, "I just saw a shadow and chased after it, but it disappeared when I got here."
This antechamber wasn't large, at most thirty square meters. It was impossible to hide someone in such a place.
"Did you see it wrong?" Fatty asked, emerging from the passage.
Ah Shui shook his head. "Impossible, I clearly saw a shadow..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Ah Shui's expression changed. He grabbed my shoulder and yanked me forcefully.
Before I could react, I just caught a glimpse of Fatty's expression, and I knew there was likely something behind me!
With my extensive experience in descending into tombs, I wasn't panicked by such a situation. I turned around immediately, but when I saw what was behind me, I couldn't help but gasp in cold air!
The wall behind me was moving!
That's right, the entire wall was moving!
Honestly, if it were a zombie or something similar, I might have remained calmer. But seeing a wall move made my mind reel.
"Oh my god! Has this wall become sentient?" Fatty swallowed.
I shone my flashlight, looking at the wriggling wall. "No... there seems to be something on the wall."
At my words, Ah Shui walked closer. Not half a meter away from the wall, the black thing on it suddenly lunged at him, engulfing him almost instantly!
Fatty and I were stunned!
Just as we thought Ah Shui was doomed, he soon began to move. He waved his hands, and the black things on his body started to fall off. He then retreated.
It was at this moment that we finally saw clearly what had fallen to the ground: they were all leeches!
Ah Shui cursed something and brushed off all the leeches from his body. He then took off his clothes and pants, completely naked, and cleaned off every leech before putting his clothes back on.
The densely packed leeches wriggled on the ground. Seeing this, Fatty pulled out his gasoline can. "Damn it, let you guys see how powerful Fatty is!"
Seeing Fatty about to unleash a gasoline-fueled attack, I quickly stopped him. "The air in this place is already thin. If you start a fire, we might suffocate. And who knows if these leeches will produce toxic gas when burned?"
At my words, Fatty put away the gasoline can.
Ah Shui put on his clothes, and we stood far away, staring at the leech-covered wall.
"Master Xiang, where do all these leeches come from? Why are they all on the wall?" Fatty asked.
I guessed, "Perhaps the wall is their habitat."
"You mean it's their nest?"
"Possibly."
"So, when we go out later, can I set it on fire?"
"What do you want to do?"
"Wipe them out!" Fatty said. "Along the way, I've been bitten by these damned things more than once. Look at my arms, my neck, my legs..."
"Alright, they weren't the ones biting you."
"They're still their kind!"
"I think we should leave this place first," I said after some thought.
Exiting the antechamber, we returned to the main tomb chamber. Just as we were about to retrace our steps, we found that the grave tunnel had disappeared.
"Where's the hole?" Fatty shone his flashlight at the ceiling.
"No, this isn't where we came down," Ah Shui pointed to the coffin in the center. "Look at the coffin."
We had opened the coffin before. However, the coffin in this tomb chamber was sealed shut.
I walked over to examine it and then looked at the murals on the walls. I realized this was indeed not the main tomb chamber we had been in earlier.
"This is spooky!" Fatty exclaimed. "We went in through that hole earlier, right? Why has it changed when we came back?"
That passage was at most a dozen meters long. I thought it was unrealistic to set up any mechanisms within such a short distance.
It truly was bizarre!
"Master Xiang, did you bring black donkey hooves?" Fatty suddenly asked.
"Why would I bring that stuff?"
Fatty swallowed and pointed at the coffin with his finger, moving his lips. I stared at his lips, completely confused about what he was trying to say.
Following the direction he pointed, I noticed that the lid of the coffin in the center of the tomb chamber was moving!
It's over. Damn it, I never encountered any zombies in my own territory, but now that I'm abroad, I've run into one!
Ah Shui's expression had also become solemn, and the atmosphere suddenly turned silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop!
Watching the coffin lid being moved away bit by bit, my heart was in my throat.
After about a minute, I couldn't stand the tension anymore. I thought, even if it were a zombie, it was being way too slow. At this pace, how long would it take to open the coffin lid?