The masked man looked displeased. Did he realize he was engaging in moral blackmail? Was he being a hypocrite?
He knew it; he knew everything perfectly well!
He just thought that the old man Tian Shan seemed relatively mild-mannered, so he wanted to put Tian Shan on a pedestal and force him to "do more work for the capable" and "serve the collective," so that he would take the initiative to help without expecting anything in return when trouble came up.
Who would have thought that the old man would leave so suddenly, leaving no chance to stop him?
In fact, many people in the group shared similar thoughts, but the masked man was the first to speak out. If he succeeded, everyone would benefit; if he failed, the responsibility would lie entirely with him.
Tian Shan probably realized that this team was unreliable, so he managed to leave in time.
He Ming led the way. Several of the Ghost Tamers had been weakened by the attack, but the team didn't stop to rest. As He Ming put it, "If you can't hold on, you can quit immediately."
No one withdrew. When they signed up for this exploration mission, most people were prepared to face a crisis. Those who signed up impulsively withdrew in the morning and didn't even get on the Ghost Bus.
Hong Ying, being a lively person, leaned over to He Ming and asked, "What does the entrance to the ancient tomb look like?"
"There's something unusual happening nearby; that's where the entrance is," He Ming replied.
That's utter nonsense. Hong Ying's mouth moved faster than his brain, blurting out, "Are you saying we'll just walk along and see a sign that says, 'Welcome to the Ghostly Ancient Tomb?'"
As soon as he finished speaking, He Ming stopped and glanced back at Hong Ying. "There's no signboard, but there are other signs."
Two small black dots appeared in the distance, seemingly two statues. He Ming quickened his pace in that direction, and the others followed closely behind. When they got closer, they realized that it wasn't two statues, but two rows of statues with a passageway in between.
The statue was covered with moss and some unidentified plants. Someone reached out and touched it; it was wet and slippery. They then scraped away the moss with a short knife, revealing the statue's face.
Hu Jiu couldn't recognize what it was; he lacked knowledge in this area and regarded all stone statues in the country as stone lions.
After walking along the passage in the middle of the statues for half an hour, two larger statues appeared ahead. Beyond the statues, the entrance to the underground palace was in front of us.
"Isn't there even anyone guarding this place?" Hong Ying remarked.
"Originally, this was just an ordinary ancient tomb, but after it overlapped with the Ghostly Ancient Tomb, the space inside has become chaotic. Everyone should be cautious when entering," He Ming reminded them one last time before going in first.
The entrance to the underground palace was rather narrow, and the inside was pitch black, cold, and damp. The air was murky and carried a pungent, decaying smell.
He Ming took out Flashlight, and the others in the group also took out their lighting equipment. After walking for a while, they still couldn't see the end of the road ahead, and the entrance to the underground palace behind them had become a point of light. There were stone walls on both sides, and with the help of the light, they could see some dim murals.
He Ming pulled out a pistol and held it in his hand. Hu Jiu approached the stone wall, reached out and touched it. The stone wall was smooth and felt a little damp. To be honest, this was his first time entering an ancient tomb. He used to get excited when reading tomb raiding novels, but when he actually entered the tomb, he only felt that the environment was cramped and the air quality was terrible.
The passageway was unexpectedly long and almost undecorated. Apart from the occasional mural, there wasn't even a lampstand for an ever-burning lamp; it was far too austere.
"Ah~" Suddenly someone let out a short scream.
"What is it?" He Ming asked.
"There seems to be a ghost over there!" The speaker was a young man, his voice slightly terrified. The beam of his Flashlight shone obliquely upwards onto the stone wall, and everyone who saw it immediately felt a chill run down their spines and retreated hastily.
Above the stone wall was a "corpse," which was stuck in a recess in the wall, like a raisin embedded in the surface of bread. Its face was so rotten that you could see the bone, with only a few pieces of decaying flesh hanging on it. Its eyes were just two dark holes, staring straight at the people in the passageway.
After a closer look, the corpse was found to be tightly bound by a black chain, its limbs twisted at bizarre angles, as if its bones had been broken and shoved into the wall.
Everyone was on tenterhooks for a while before realizing that the corpse was motionless and had not undergone any unusual changes.
"Could this just be an ordinary corpse, not a ghost?" someone murmured.
"If this really is a ghost, then that black chain might be a good thing, capable of suppressing a ghost and making it completely immobile." Hu Jiu's cold voice suddenly rang out, seemingly just a simple reminder.
Upon hearing this, the expressions of the several Ghost Tamers immediately changed.
"Remove the chain, quickly. While the corpse is still still, stuff it directly into the Golden Corpse Bag, and the chain will be yours."
"Wait, what if the ghost accidentally revives and gets into danger?"
"You signed up for the exploration mission to find treasure, didn't you? So timid, always afraid of this and that, what are you doing in the ancient tomb? Are you here for sightseeing?"
"There's only one chain. If you want it, go get it yourself after we've gone some distance. Don't drag everyone else into this danger just because of your own greed!"
The group argued noisily, their disagreements arising as soon as they entered the tomb. Some wanted to fight over the chain; others had formed small teams and bypassed He Ming, heading deeper into the passageway, clearly not wanting to stay with the main group; still others had left on their own.
"Alright, stop arguing. Those who want this chain can stay here and do it. Those who don't want to get involved, come with me. Let's move on," He Ming said calmly.
"Captain, aren't you going to stay and wait for us?" The man who wanted to take the chains frowned.
"I have other tasks. If you want to take the items yourselves, why should I wait? Although I'm the team leader, this is free exploration time, and there's no need for us to act together. Whoever wants to come with me can come with me, and whoever doesn't want to follow me can do whatever they want. Just one thing: attacking teammates is strictly prohibited. Otherwise, if Headquarters finds out, they will definitely hold us accountable!" He Ming finished speaking and left.
Several people stayed behind; they were clearly a team, wanting to get the chain. Others who were also interested in the chain had no choice but to give up when they saw that the others outnumbered them.
Before they had even left the passageway, and before the group had completely dispersed, some people were already openly forming temporary teams because of He Ming's words.
Fang Qingjiao and Zheng Ling were a formidable duo when they dealt with that comical ghost outside the ancient tomb. Moreover, Fang Qingjiao actively recruited teammates, and the small team he led gradually grew stronger.
Fang Qingjiao had originally intended to invite Hu Jiu to join him, given their brief collaboration before. However, when dealing with the comical ghost outside the tomb, his Ghost Domain couldn't take Hu Jiu away, indicating that Hu Jiu was no weaker than him. A few minutes earlier, Hu Jiu had reminded him that the chain might be a good thing for suppressing Fierce Ghosts, and as a result, the team disbanded. The two events weren't directly related, but Fang Qingjiao's intuition warned him that recruiting Hu Jiu wasn't a good idea.
He Ming, the true captain, seems rather isolated.
Before long, they reached the end of the passageway. Ahead lay a vast space. Powerful Flashlights shone in all directions, and the edges were nowhere in sight. It was as if everyone had entered another dimension, and things like "walls" had disappeared.
There was a huge pit to the right of the passageway, pitch black, so dark that even a powerful Flashlight could not reach the bottom.
There's no road ahead, or you could say there are roads everywhere, and you can go in any direction.
As everyone looked at each other, eager to try, before deciding which direction to go, several painful screams suddenly came from the passage behind them, followed by the sound of chains rattling.
"Oh no, those guys probably failed. They couldn't remove the chains, and the Fierce Ghost Revival." Fang Qingjiao's expression turned grave, and he turned and ran.
Many people followed him.
The sound of chains approached rapidly, clanging and clattering as they drew nearer.
Hu Jiu turned his head and glanced at him, He Ming grabbed his arm and said, "Stop looking, run!"
The crowd scattered and fled. Suddenly, a pitch-black chain emerged from the passageway and pierced the shoulder blade of a Ghost Tamer without warning. Before he could even scream, he was dragged away by the chain, utterly powerless to resist.
He Ming gasped, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a ghost.
The rotting corpse embedded in the stone wall of the passageway came to life. It was pulling on chains with both hands, and behind it, several Ghost Tamers had their shoulders pierced by chains and strung together like candied hawthorns, being dragged along by the Fierce Ghost.
The Ghost Tamer, bound by chains, was not yet dead, but his face was ashen and his eyes pleaded. Unfortunately, no one was willing to risk helping them.
"Does it look like it?" Hu Jiu suddenly asked.
He Ming asked in confusion, "What does it look like?"
Hu Jiu uttered four words: "The underworld messengers subdue ghosts."
He Ming was taken aback, then nodded.
Swish--
The black chain rushed towards the two of them. He Ming released Hu Jiu's arm and barely dodged it. Although he could become intangible, the chain seemed to be able to suppress the Fierce Ghosts indiscriminately. Otherwise, the Ghost Tamer was captured would not have been able to resist without resistance. Therefore, He Ming was unwilling to take the risk and test it.
Hu Jiu swung the Hanging Rope to block a wave of chain attacks, but the Hanging Rope immediately wilted and never regained its usual flexibility.
The chain swung wildly in mid-air like a nimble snake, scattering the people who were originally running in the same direction. Hu Jiu and He Ming also separated.
The good news is that the ghost chased after He Ming's group, which temporarily relieved the pressure on those in other directions.
Looking around, he saw a little girl named Su Jingtang, panting heavily like a bellows, and a Ghost Tamer wrapped in cloth like a mummy, who seemed not to be breathing at all.
"Don't stop, that ghost might catch up at any time," Mr. Mummy warned.
After walking for an unknown amount of time in the long darkness, I suddenly heard the sound of water, and a large expanse of deep underground water appeared before my eyes.
The three stopped at the water's edge, and the faint sound of chains rattling could be heard in the distance.
"The water in this ancient tomb might be strange; it's best not to touch it," said Mr. Mummy. Even before he got close, he felt a chill run down his spine; this water was definitely not good.
"The road ahead is blocked by water, so how are we supposed to get across?" Su Jingtang looked very distressed.
"It's not about how 'we' should get across, it's about 'you' figuring out how to save yourself, little sister. I won't go with you." After saying this, the mummy floated across the water and reached the other side, right before Su Jingtang's shocked eyes.
"I..." Su Jingtang was speechless, then turned to look at Hu Jiu's location, and was shocked again.
Hu Jiu had already disappeared; he used his Ghost Domain to bypass the underground water and leave Su Jingtang and the mummy behind.
He traversed several dangerous areas but found nothing; he neither found ghosts nor Supernatural Items.
Suddenly, my foot slipped, and I seemed to step on something round. Looking down, I saw an object that looked like a glass marble, or perhaps a glass bead used to string beads for a bracelet. It had many cracks.
Hu Jiu picked it up through the gold, but couldn't see anything unusual about it; it was probably just an ordinary marble?
He casually tossed the bead aside, but before he had taken more than a few steps, he stepped on it again!
Something's not right!
When Hu Jiu slipped for the third time, he understood that the purpose of this bead seemed to be to cause passersby to step on it and slip, which would likely result in injury or even death.
It's a rather interesting little thing, but it seems a bit useless.
Hu Jiu casually put the marbles away, planning to study them more after leaving the ancient tomb.
Continuing onward, they hadn't gone far when someone seemed to suddenly walk past them, almost bumping into Hu Jiu.
Hu Jiu immediately looked around but found nothing. Just as he relaxed his guard, the air around him was stirred again, as if someone was rushing past him.
In an instant, the Ghost Domain opened, Mirages swept outwards. Under the shroud of the Ghost Domain, the thing finally revealed its form.
It was a white, semi-transparent phantom, much like a wandering ghost from a traditional folktale. It drifted aimlessly in this space, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, occasionally stirring up a gentle breeze, and appeared harmless.
Hu Jiu summoned a White Sash, but the White Sash passed right through the ghost without anything happening.
"Fierce Ghost that can be seen but not touched, an illusory and malevolent spirit?" Hu Jiu became interested, as this overlapped with some of his abilities.
They tried various abilities of the Fierce Ghost, such as the Ghost Hand, Ghost Shadow, and Ghost Wall-Building, but the semi-transparent ghost was immune to all of them.
It has containment value!
Hu Jiu didn't want to waste time testing its abilities in this place, so he took out the Ghost Book and Ghost Pen and wrote a line of text. The semi-transparent Fierce Ghost immediately became immobile and obediently waited to be put in a sack.
After taking in the ghost, Hu Jiu drew a door on the spot. The door seemed rusty, and it opened very slowly, only revealing a crack after a long time, just big enough to stuff the Golden Corpse Bag inside.
"This tomb is indeed extraordinary..."