Chapter 1 My Descent

Entangled by these strange snakes, I lost my balance on the tree. I couldn't hold onto the trunk and tumbled down in a clumsy, rolling fall.

Thankfully, the trunk of this ancient tree wasn't straight up and down but had a slope. I rolled down the trunk, and although I was bruised all over, I didn't break any bones.

Uncle Mei was terrified and asked anxiously, "Rongsheng, are you alright? Did you break anything?"

I struggled to get up and shook my head. "Uncle, I'm fine!"

As I spoke, I saw three or four strange snakes rolling down from the tree trunk after me. They were at my feet in an instant. I quickly pulled out my diving knife and chopped these pursuing beasts in half as I retreated.

After dealing with these snakes, the others on the tree no longer came down to attack me. It seemed their activity was limited to the tree. As long as I didn't go up, they would leave me alone, minding their own business.

But Uncle Mei, squatting on the branch, was in trouble. He was constantly attacked by venomous snakes. However, he only needed to defend one direction. As soon as a snake dared to show its head, he would immediately swing his knife and cut it in two.

I couldn't understand why the woman in white had squatted on the branch for so long without being attacked by the venomous snakes. Could it be that she was truly some wronged spirit?

Just then, Rat, one of Boss Wang's men, returned with the corpse of the Earth Dog. They had tied the body with hemp rope and were slowly lowering it.

With the Earth Dog's corpse, everyone could finally cross the river. But even if they could escape the piranhas, countless venomous snakes in the ancient tree were waiting for them.

I couldn't help but sigh. Tomb raiding might bring quick money – a single antique could be sold for hundreds of thousands or even millions – but it was also incredibly dangerous. Dying in a tomb was commonplace.

Don't look at these dozen or so people, all full of energy now. Who knows how many of them will actually make it out alive?

After a while, Uncle Mei and I were basically out of danger. I was under the tree, and the snakes wouldn't come down. Uncle Mei had killed a bunch of venomous snakes. The branches were covered in snake blood and corpses. These red strange snakes were very intelligent. They knew that Uncle Mei was a ruthless snake killer and didn't dare to approach him and throw their lives away.

So, I turned my attention to the other side, watching Boss Wang and his men cross the river.

Two of the coolies lowered the Earth Dog's corpse, and Little Wu immediately stepped forward and dragged the body to the riverbank.

Mr. Liao pointed to the corpse and said, "The Earth Dog has been dead for a while, and the blood on his body is almost coagulated. I'm afraid there won't be much blood in the river to attract the piranhas. If we want to use him as bait, we'll have to make a few more cuts."

Hearing this, Boss Wang's face immediately turned ugly, but he had no other choice. He could only say sullenly, "It's all up to Mr. Liao."

Mr. Liao was indeed a ruthless man. Without further ado, he pulled out his knife, opened the Earth Dog's clothes, and then slashed a few times on his stomach, locating the key organs.

These organs contained a lot of blood. One cut, and the goods were delivered immediately.

After preparing, Mr. Liao turned to the others and asked, "Are you all ready? Line up by the river, and cross the river as soon as the bait is thrown in!"

The coolies responded in unison, "Understood!"

After speaking, they spontaneously walked to the river, grabbed the hemp rope that Uncle Mei and I had brought across, and lined up in pairs.

When everyone was ready, Mr. Liao raised his knife and bled the Earth Dog. Then, together with Boss Wang, they lifted the Earth Dog's corpse and threw it into the underground river.

As soon as the bait entered the river, it attracted a large group of piranhas. The surface of the water churned, and dark red small fish rushed towards the Earth Dog like crazy.

Boss Wang roared, "Cross the river!"

The coolies immediately strode into the water, pulling on the rope and splashing towards me.

At first, the bait did have some effect, attracting the attention of most of the piranhas in the underground river. But these beasts had sharp teeth and big appetites. In the blink of an eye, the skinny Earth Dog was eaten clean!

But at the same time, Boss Wang's group hadn't even reached the shore. Even the first group to enter the water was still three or four meters away from me.

I secretly cried out that things were bad. The worst thing I was worried about had happened. The number of piranhas in this underground river was much larger than in the tomb passage. I was afraid they would have to sacrifice a few more people to cross the river.

Watching the piranhas turn back after devouring the Earth Dog, I quickly shouted at them, "Hurry! Hurry! The piranhas are coming! The piranhas are coming!"

The people in the lead quickly paddled desperately, pulling the ropes with both hands and splashing their legs in the river, finally reaching the shore before the piranhas surrounded them.

But the tomb raiders behind them were out of luck. They definitely couldn't escape the piranhas.

The worst of them was Little Wu, who had been in the river once before. He had fresh wounds on his body, and the wounds hadn't stopped bleeding. Soaking in the river, the smell of blood immediately spread.

The piranhas smelled it and came over, biting Little Wu's legs without hesitation.

"Fuck!"

Little Wu cursed in pain, kicking his legs helplessly, but the piranhas were like bone-attached maggots, biting him and not letting go.

Seeing more and more piranhas on his legs, the river water around Little Wu was stained red. He couldn't bear the pain, grabbed the shoulder of a companion in front of him, shook him, and pleaded, "Save me! Save me! Brother, help me!"

The companion in front of him was only focused on escaping. How could he have time to save him? He suddenly twisted his shoulder, shook off Little Wu's arm, pretended not to hear, and swam forward without looking back.

Little Wu was thrown off by him and grabbed his waistband, struggling in the water and shouting, "Save me! Brother, save me, I'll repay you well when I get out... Don't leave me! Please..."

But the man remained silent, as if he hadn't heard Little Wu's words at all. He forcefully pried open Little Wu's fingers and swam towards the other side, expressionless, pulling on the rope.

The abandoned Little Wu didn't have the strength to grab the rope anymore. He splashed his arms twice and was carried to the side by the current.

Seeing him isolated, the piranhas immediately surrounded him in droves.

In desperation, Little Wu used his last strength to look at Boss Wang in the distance and shouted with all his might, "Boss! Boss! Save me! Please, for the sake of my loyalty to you, save me! Save me!"

Boss Wang was walking in front and was about to cross the river successfully. He looked back at Little Wu, sighed, and said, "Little Wu, you said it yourself just now. Everyone crosses the river together, and life and death depend on fate. Your fate is sealed today. I can't save you. I'm sorry!"

After speaking, Boss Wang never looked at Little Wu again and swam towards the shore on his own.

Little Wu in the water struggled and shouted twice more, and was soon dragged into the river by the swarm of piranhas, disappearing without a trace...