The ancient city's roads were very narrow and intricately winding, with many alleys blocked by collapsed houses, making passage impossible.
After walking for about forty minutes, we finally emerged from the alleyways onto a slightly wider road.
It was called a road, but it was only about two to three meters wide.
As we had two injured individuals, we didn't walk very fast.
Fu Honglang and A Yuan carried Fu Kui, while I supported Jin Qiaoyue.
"Brother Xiang, what do you think the people who lived here used to eat?" Fatty asked me, looking around.
"How would I know?"
"This is a vast desert, with no prey. Even if they farmed, I haven't seen any farmland."
"Perhaps there was, but it was abandoned later? Who can say for sure?" I replied.
"Living in such a place their entire lives, it sounds quite tragic." Fatty was speaking when his stomach growled.
I glanced at him. He sheepishly touched his stomach and said, "I haven't eaten enough..."
This guy, he ate a whole pack of compressed biscuits and still wasn't full. I really don't know what his stomach is made of.
"Brother Xiang, do you know what I want most right now?"
"What?"
"That mutton spine place next to Anyuan Hall... the taste was absolutely divine. Last time they opened, Hong Yunpeng and I went, and it was so delicious. The mutton was freshly slaughtered, and they gave generous portions..."
Fatty licked his lips and continued, "And there's that snack shop in the alley behind Anyuan Hall. The 'three-dice' buns there, one bite and you can taste the oil, and their mille-feuille..."
"Can you stop talking about that?" I said irritably.
We had no food, and the fatso was still going on about all these things.
Although I had eaten some compressed biscuits, his words made my mouth water, and my stomach tightened a bit.
I also saw Jin Qiaoyue swallow a few times, looking like she was starving as well.
"What do you think the King of Taohuai Kingdom ate in the past?"
"He definitely ate better than you," I replied impatiently. "He was a king, after all. Even if not delicacies every meal, at least there was meat."
"Meat? What kind of meat would there be in this place? Human meat?" Fatty asked.
"Can you stop being disgusting?"
As we were talking, Fu Honglang, who was ahead, suddenly stopped. His expression turned grim, and he twitched his nose, saying, "It's here..."
"What's here?" I couldn't help but ask.
"That monster..."
As soon as he spoke, a "swish-swish" sound came from the ruins not far away.
In almost the blink of an eye, a dark figure burst out of the ruins and charged directly at us.
A Yuan drew his gun immediately and hit the monster twice with precise shots.
"Jie!!"
With a pained cry, the monster, which had been flying in the air, instantly fell to the ground. It struggled for a moment before suddenly darting into an alleyway beside us.
"Let's go!" Fu Honglang shouted.
The terrain here was complex, and the monster could rush out again at any moment. If we were to get entangled with it here, we wouldn't gain any advantage.
Most importantly, the surrounding buildings were decayed and could collapse at any time, putting us all in mortal danger.
To speed up, I had Jin Qiaoyue get on my back.
I carried her, with Fatty covering our rear.
I don't know if A Yuan had hit the monster's vital spot, but it didn't reappear even after we had traveled a considerable distance.
Soon, we arrived at a rugged path. There was nothing around the path except for a stone house in the distance. Beside the stone house stood a large stone tablet.
Could this be the exit?
Thinking this, I quickened my pace. Before I could even reach the stone house, Fatty's cry rang out: "Oh my god!!"
Just as I was about to turn around to see what had happened, I accidentally kissed Jin Qiaoyue on the face as I turned.
It was only for a moment, but it sent a tremor through me. Seeing that she didn't seem to mind, I didn't dwell on it.
Fatty pushed me and said, "Brother Xiang, run! That monster is catching up!"
Although the monster had been shot, its speed was not diminished. In no time, it rushed up to us.
As the monster's sharp claws were about to grab me, Fatty pulled out his entrenching tool and swung it at it with full force: "Damn you!"
With that swing, it was clear Fatty had put all his strength into it.
The moment the monster was sent flying back, I was also pushed to the ground by a force.
As I fell, I realized that Jin Qiaoyue had used her backpack to block the monster's attack.
The tools in the backpack scattered on the ground. Fu Honglang and A Yuan had already carried Fu Kui into the stone house ahead: "Quick, come over!"
I didn't care about anything else. I got up from the ground, helped Jin Qiaoyue, and rushed towards the stone house.
In the chaos, Fatty was the last one to scramble in.
As soon as he entered, Fu Honglang closed the stone house door.
The moment it was closed, a "thump, thump, thump!" sound of pounding came from outside.
The stone door was thick, but it still trembled from the impact.
Fu Honglang took out a piton and hammered it into the lower part of the stone door, securing it.
"Could this monster be the King of the Taohuai ancient kingdom? The one in the mural who put the Su Hou Pearl into his chest?" Fatty ventured a guess.
Hearing him say that, it seemed quite possible upon closer reflection.
But if that were the case, would we have to kill the monster to get the Su Hou Pearl?
"I don't think so," Fu Honglang said. "Did you notice the clothes the monster was wearing?"
"Clothes?" Fatty asked. "What clothes did the monster have on?"
Fu Honglang replied, "At its ankle, there's a piece of cloth. Judging by its style and material, it's similar to the clothes on the mummy we found in the main hall."
"You mean this monster was one of the members of that archaeological expedition?" I exclaimed.
Fu Honglang nodded: "Exactly."
"If that's the case, how did it survive until now?" I asked.
Just then, Jin Qiaoyue's voice rang out, "Come here and see, what are these?"
Holding her flashlight, she stood about two or three meters away from me, covering her mouth and nose, as if she had seen something unpleasant.
We crowded over and looked in the direction her flashlight was shining. We hadn't expected it, but as soon as we looked, the remaining compressed biscuits in my stomach almost came spewing out of my mouth.
On the ground, there were countless piles of human bones...
Besides these human bones, there were also the corpses of deathworms...
Some of the deathworm corpses still had green blood on them, and among the deathworm corpses, there were dense clusters of white maggots...