I jolted, staring at the feather in the coffin. The others had clearly noticed its tremor as well.
The atmosphere grew silent, everyone holding their breath.
After a moment, with nothing else happening, Fatty chuckled, "Could there be rats in here...?"
The moment he spoke, the feather trembled violently again, and suddenly something darted out of the coffin.
"Holy hell! The corpse is moving!" Fatty yelped.
Immediately after, Jin Qiaoyue, not far away, illuminated the escaping object with her flashlight.
It was a "strange bird."
The creature was entirely black, its wings resembling those of a bat, folded in a peculiar way. Its body was covered in feathers, and it was about the size of two palms.
A tail hung from its body, at least twenty centimeters long and wriggling continuously.
The tail curved into a "j" shape, with a mouth opening at its tip, making it hard to ascertain what this thing truly was.
"What is this?" Fatty asked, staring at the bird.
I shook my head, "I don't know..."
"Damn it, you scared me earlier, I thought it was some kind of ghost. Let Fatty teach you a lesson!"
As Fatty spoke, he raised his entrenching tool, intending to strike the bird down.
I wanted to stop him, but before I could, he swung the shovel.
"Crack!" The bird was sent flying by the blow.
The creature seemed disoriented, as if not fully awake, to be hit by Fatty's shovel.
By sheer chance, as the bird was knocked away, it landed on Fu Kui, who was not far off.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."
The bird struggled, flailing on Fu Kui for a while before finally taking flight again.
Fatty's shovel strike was not light, yet it didn't kill the bird, a testament to its luck.
As the bird ascended, the opening at the tip of its tail sprayed a cloud of powder.
"Cover your mouths and noses!!" Fu Honglang shouted.
Instinctively, we followed his command, covering our mouths and noses and retreating.
I suddenly remembered I had a few gas masks in my backpack and quickly asked Fatty to retrieve them.
There were exactly five.
We each took one and put it on, feeling somewhat more at ease.
The strange bird continued to circle in the air. Fatty, with disdain, remarked, "Damn it, I can't deal with the monsters outside, but I can handle you!"
As he spoke, he moved to confront the bird again, but I quickly grabbed him.
He looked at me, confused, "What's wrong, Brother Xiang?"
I gestured with my chin towards Fu Kui. Fatty looked over, puzzled.
Fu Kui wasn't wearing a gas mask, and it was unclear what the bird had sprayed. However, it was evident that Fu Kui had inhaled a significant amount.
His entire body began to tremble. Before A Yuan could check on him, he suddenly shouted, "Ah!! You all have to die... you all have to die... The Suihou Pearl is mine... it's mine..."
After a few shouts, he struggled to get up from the ground, his eyes red, looking as if he were possessed.
Next, using his uninjured hand, he gouged out his own eyeballs!
This all happened so fast that no one could react!
I gasped, my eyes widening involuntarily.
Soon, two bloody sockets appeared on Fu Kui's face, blood gushing out continuously.
He then reached into his mouth, pulled out his tongue, and with a forceful clench of his jaws, bit off his own tongue...
Witnessing this, my stomach churned, and my mind went blank.
"Oh my god... this... this... this..." Fatty was so shocked he couldn't speak for a long time.
A Yuan, standing beside him, was also stunned, motionless.
Clearly, none of them had expected things to unfold this way.
"That thing is responsible!" Fu Honglang pointed at the strange bird circling nearby. "The powder it sprayed must be some kind of hallucinogen..."
Fu Kui's sudden death caught everyone off guard. I saw Jin Qiaoyue looking incredibly distressed, her body trembling uncontrollably.
A Yuan stood as still as a statue, like a robot that had lost power.
I didn't have much affection for Fu Kui, so I felt no sadness, only a growing sense of dread.
Now, I finally understood what had happened to the skeletons on the ground.
I surmised they had also succumbed to the bird's poison, leading them to kill each other.
As for Fu Kui's self-mutilation, it was likely due to his immobility and extreme weakness.
"Fatty."
I called out to Fatty, who turned to me, "What is it, Brother Xiang?"
"Didn't you want to destroy that thing? Your moment to shine has come."
"Huh?" Fatty suddenly grew timid, looking uncomfortable. "Brother Xiang... uh, I..."
"What 'uh' and 'I'? Are you scared? If you're scared, just say it," I pressed.
He gritted his teeth, "Scared of what! I... watch Fatty's might!"
With that, he charged forward with his shovel. The strange bird's only offensive capability seemed to be its poisonous powder.
As Fatty advanced, the bird was forced to flee from him.
While running, it didn't forget to spray its venomous powder, looking utterly pathetic.
Thus, man and bird raced through the tomb chamber.
Jin Qiaoyue went to Fu Kui's side and began to sob. I didn't know how to comfort her.
Fu Honglang, meanwhile, went to the stone coffin to examine something.
Seeing that Fatty had chased the bird for two laps without catching it, I knew just watching wasn't going to solve anything. I took out an entrenching tool and joined Fatty, creating a pincer movement to corner it.
Finally, the bird was driven into a corner, flapping its wings frantically as if begging for mercy. However, Fatty showed no mercy and smashed it flat with one swing of his shovel!
"Damn it, still daring to play tricks on Fatty! Let's see how you run now!"
As the bird fell to the ground, Fatty, still unsatisfied, delivered two more blows.
Seeing the bird completely dead, I let out a sigh of relief.
"Brother Xiang! Come take a look..."
Hearing Fu Honglang call me, I quickly went over.
He used a crowbar to pry open the chest of the mummy in the stone coffin. Inside, I saw many fungi, as well as some small black insects.
"What is this?" I asked.
Fu Honglang remained silent but used the crowbar to pull aside the clothing on the mummy's abdomen. The stomach was exposed, revealing more fungi and insects within.
Upon seeing this, I couldn't help but remark, "It seems a complete ecosystem has formed within the corpse. That strange bird must have survived by feeding on this ecosystem..."
Fatty said, "Disgusting... What is this?"
As Fatty was about to use his shovel to prod at something in the stone coffin, Fu Honglang suddenly shouted, "Don't touch it!!"