Chapter 1 The Eerie Tunnel

This secret passage was truly eerie. Seven or eight of us were holding up flashlights to illuminate the way, but for some reason, they couldn't penetrate this narrow tunnel.

The flashlights clearly had power. What was going on?

Trailing behind Hu Wazi, Yun Jie gasped and muttered superstitiously, "Damn, this ghostly place doesn't have some kind of curse, does it? I feel a chilling wind blowing straight up from below."

"Bah!" Hu Wazi immediately retorted, "Stop being so paranoid. You're just a coward!"

As I walked through this tomb passage, I felt a throbbing headache. Looking down, I couldn't even make out the steps clearly. We could only proceed cautiously, feeling our way forward, which wasn't a pleasant experience.

At this moment, Lao Wei stepped forward, reached out to touch the walls of the passage, pondered for a moment, and said to us, "I understand. The walls of this tunnel are coated with a special material. If I'm not mistaken, it should be a light-absorbing material."

"Light-absorbing material? What kind of material is that?" I asked, puzzled.

In those days, this material wasn't yet widespread. In fact, few people on the market even knew about it. I had to admit that Lao Wei was indeed knowledgeable.

Fast forward a few years to around 2011 or 2012, when the real estate industry was booming, driving the decoration industry to feast along with it. All sorts of bizarre decoration materials emerged, and this light-absorbing material appeared on the market.

Of course, the light-absorbing material in this Qu Shang underground palace wasn't the same as the light-absorbing material on the decoration market.

The difference was that the latter was artificially created using technological means, while the light-absorbing material in the Qu Shang underground palace was completely natural.

A few years ago, I made a small fortune and renovated an apartment. I happened to think of this material and chatted with the foreman in charge of the renovation, gaining a rudimentary understanding of it.

According to the foreman, this material was widespread in nature because its surface was uneven, with extremely tiny undulations, which prevented light from being effectively reflected and refracted, thereby reducing the surrounding brightness.

Many people liked to use this material when decorating bedrooms to keep the room perpetually dim, even if the sun was shining brightly in the morning.

I never expected that our ancestors had discovered this material thousands of years ago and used it to coat this tunnel. As a result, we could only proceed cautiously.

Lao Wei briefly explained the light-absorbing material to us and then led us downwards. He and Hu Wazi walked in front. After taking a few steps, he realized that Hu Wazi was moving too fast and recklessly. If we encountered a trap, he would definitely blunder into it. So he stopped Hu Wazi and had him switch places with Yun Jie, putting the more timid Yun Jie in the lead.

After descending more than twenty steps, we indeed encountered a trap. The steps abruptly ended there, and below the gap seemed to be a bottomless abyss.

The gap was about a meter wide, which wasn't too wide in itself. The steps beyond it were complete.

But the key was that the entire tunnel was pitch black, and even the flashlights couldn't penetrate the darkness. If someone suddenly came across a gap like this, they would carelessly fall into it.

I thought to myself that Lao Wei was indeed prescient. It was fortunate that Lao Wei and Yun Jie were leading the way. If Hu Wazi had been leading, he would definitely have stepped off the edge and fallen.

Yun Jie detected the gap and was so frightened that his legs went weak, and he sat down on the ground.

Lao Wei quickly helped him up and said, "It's okay, don't panic. The gap isn't too wide. We can just jump over it."

With that, he gave us a demonstration, taking two steps back, taking a running start, and leaping across, landing on the ground on the other side.

Yun Jie was indeed a bit of a coward. His legs remained weak for a long time. Hu Wazi couldn't stand it anymore and gave him a shove, saying, "Get out of the way. I'll go first!"

Without even taking a running start, he strode forward and jumped across.

I definitely wouldn't have any problem crossing, but I was worried about the Yin Huan Snake beside me. She was injured, so it might be difficult for her to jump across.

I asked her, "Sister Snake, what about you? Can you jump across?"

Yin Huan Snake smiled and said, "Little brother, don't worry about me. I can make it. But you should go across first and hold out your hand. If I miss, quickly pull me up."

I nodded, took a running start, and jumped across, then waited for Yin Huan Snake to jump.

Yin Huan Snake's movements were a bit sluggish, but her jumping ability was actually quite good. Probably because she had trained in Suogu (clavicle) skills since she was young, her flexibility was better than most people's. Not only did she jump over the gap, but she actually jumped a bit too far and landed right in my arms, almost knocking me over.

I quickly hugged her and took two steps back, laughing, "Sister Snake, it seems I was worried for nothing. Your jumping ability is even better than mine."

Yin Huan Snake snuggled in my arms, smiling, "What do you think? This sister still has some skills, right? I've got to have some skills to be a *zhiguo* (boss)."

At this moment, I heard Xiao Liang on the other side shout, "Chen Rongsheng! I'm going to jump over now. Catch me!"

"Got it!"

I responded and quickly walked over to prepare to catch Xiao Liang.

Yin Huan Snake whispered in my ear, "Hey, little brother, it's probably because you hugged me just now that your little girlfriend is unhappy. Take some time to coax her later."

I quickly clarified, "Sister Snake, you're joking. Xiao Liang and I are just ordinary friends. I have a girlfriend. The one in the Crystal Palace is my girlfriend."

Yin Huan Snake said in realization, "No wonder you're in such a hurry to go to the Crystal Palace. I didn't expect you to be such a devoted lover."

Before she finished speaking, Xiao Liang on the other side had already jumped over. Her steps were a bit short, and she almost didn't make it. I quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back, pulling her into my arms, and we both rolled onto the ground.

Xiao Liang struggled to get up and said thank you, but her tone was indeed a bit sour, as if I had done something to offend her.

Soon, we had all successfully jumped over the gap and continued along the tunnel. After walking a few steps, Lao Wei suddenly wrinkled his nose, sniffed the air, and his expression became very serious.

Hu Wazi saw this and casually asked, "What's wrong? Did someone fart? What are you sniffing?"

Lao Wei frowned and said in a deep voice, "There's a smell of blood!"

Yun Jie, who was walking in front, also nodded and said, "There really is a smell of blood, and it's quite strong. Something's not right. Someone must have died nearby..."

Hearing this, we all became nervous.