Volume 5 Chapter 8 Disturbance

I knew from the look on Mian Youping’s face that he was definitely not joking. When we encountered the blood corpse in the Lu Palace, he didn’t even show that expression.

But at this time, I didn’t want to ask him what was going on, so I just agreed and started to run to get the others ready to run.

I thought I had followed Mian Youping’s instructions thoroughly, but when I turned around, I found that Ye Cheng and the fat man had already run into the corridor.

After rushing through the corridor and breaking through the Jade Gate to the main hall, the sound of “soughing” did not diminish, but rather increased. At this point, it was already clear that the sound was coming from all directions on the ceiling, as if countless feet were rubbing against the beams overhead, and it was enough to make the skin crawl.

But when I looked up, all I could see was endless darkness like cotton, and I couldn’t see anything, let alone know what was making the sound. We were standing in such darkness and unease, it was like sitting on pins and needles, and we couldn’t wait to get out of there, so we ran as if our lives depended on it.

I believe everyone has experienced running away from something they fear in the dark. You can’t run very far before you have to stop, but if everyone runs together, it will definitely get out of hand. Your imagination and the fear of being left alone won’t let you stop.

However, people do have different running speeds. Ye Cheng was so scared that he ran faster than a rabbit, and the fat guy wasn’t slow either. The two of them were the fastest, and they flew out of the cave in an instant. We could hardly keep up with them. Plus, it was hard to tell who was who in the dark, so soon a few people had opened up a gap between them. I was barely able to keep up with them, and I could only use the light from my flashlight to tell which way to go.

I don’t know how long we ran for, but we were almost out of energy, and our steps slowed down involuntarily. I looked at the few flashlights in front of me, which were also gradually slowing down. It seemed that we were almost there, and I let up a little. I was relieved that my physical strength had improved a lot, otherwise I would have definitely fallen behind them.

When I ran over, I saw that the few people in front of me had stopped, holding their knees and panting heavily. However, I couldn’t see the stone gate, and it was still dark in front of me.

I asked what was going on and why they weren’t running anymore.

Ye Cheng was out of breath, and his face was beginning to bulge with veins. He said, “No, something’s wrong. I just noticed that the main hall is 500 paces long. My stride is one meter, so at this speed of 100 meters per minute, I should have reached it in less than two minutes. But now, I’m sure I’ve run far beyond that time. I should have seen the jade door by now, but there’s still nothing ahead. There’s something wrong!”

The fat guy said, “Could you have counted wrong? Who can take a step that’s exactly one meter long?”

Ye Cheng smiled proudly: “There is no mistake. My step is exactly one meter, with no more than one centimeter of error. If you don’t believe me, we can bet on it. I’ve already run almost a thousand meters since we came back, so there must be something wrong.”

The people behind us also caught up, saw that we weren’t running anymore, slowed down, and stopped running next to us. Several people were carrying heavy equipment and thick clothes. After running all the way, they were all exhausted and panting like cows, almost falling over. Hua Sheng panted heavily, “Why have we stopped? Hurry up and run! Run out and rest.”

Ye Cheng explained the situation in one breath. Hua Sheng’s face changed, and he wiped the sweat off his head and said, “What’s going on? We didn’t take a wrong turn when we came in. How could we not find the way when we went back?”

I thought for a moment, and I knew that we had definitely been trapped again. They must have used some means that we didn’t know about. I said to them, “You were right, Brother. Wang Zanghai never wanted us to get out.”

“So what do we do?” the fat man asked. “We’ll go in the other direction, and run to the left!”

I looked around. “No, since we can’t go back the way we came, we’ll just run in any direction, and we’ll end up in a place that’s nowhere near the exit. We’ll never get out. Don’t waste your energy.”

Ye Cheng exclaimed in horror: “Damn, so we’re going to be trapped here to death?”

I have experienced the power of these traps in the underwater tomb, but I have also figured out some of his methods. I told Ye Cheng that it wouldn’t be that bad. We have so many people here, so we can definitely get out. As long as we brainstorm, there won’t be a problem. In the end, Wang Zanghai can only do things within his capabilities. No matter how sophisticated the traps are, there must be flaws. I’m afraid that Wang Zanghai’s intention is not to trap us, but the strange sound above our heads is what we should worry about.

I looked up again and saw that the sound of rustling had become so dense that it was itchy, and I was horrified. Ye Cheng swept the flashlight back and forth, and the top was covered in gray, and only the painted beams could be vaguely seen, which was about to drive people crazy.

Hua said, “It’s no good just staying here. Let’s split into four groups and run in two directions. That way, one group will get out first and we won’t all be wiped out.”

The fat guy shouted, “Look carefully. We haven’t even reached the others yet. How can we split into four groups?”

When everyone heard this, they looked around and counted the flashlights. Sure enough, a few people were suddenly confused.

Muyoubing, Chen Pi Asi, Langfeng carrying Shunzi, and Pan Zi had not caught up. Shit, half of the people were gone. I thought they were all around us.

When we were running, we were in a mess and didn’t notice when they fell behind. Now looking back, there is no light in sight, so there is no way to find out where they are. Could it be that when we were running, we took a wrong turn and ran into the darkness here? That would be trouble. In this situation, getting separated is almost like committing suicide.

I pinched my brow and carefully recalled the details of the situation. We weren’t the last ones to run. Those people, like Pan Zi, always ran last. This is a habit he developed when he was in the army, so that he could monitor everyone’s movements. Chen Pi A Si was old and was also behind us. Lang Feng was carrying someone on his back, so he couldn’t move easily and couldn’t run fast. And Mian Youbing was a professional-level missing person. He always habitually stayed behind when he encountered a situation, and then suddenly disappeared.

These people were all behind us, and obviously they weren’t far away when they disappeared. We were running so frantically that we didn’t notice at all.

Hua and the others suddenly lost their heads and didn’t know what to do. The fat guy yelled, “Pan! Where are you?”

As soon as his voice stopped, I suddenly heard Langfeng’s voice coming from the side. The voice was impossible to identify, but it was extremely loud. I only heard Langfeng yelling, “Fuck, monk! Turn off the flashlight! Look at the top of your head!”