The Twelfth Chapter: Blood Dripping at Midnight

The team started with twelve people, but now only nine remain.

Brother Sun's idea was to stay put, rest and bandage up while waiting for others, and that's exactly what everyone did. Unfortunately, more than half an hour passed, the rain stopped, Troublemaker and Shi Jiu still hadn't returned.

"... This mountain is much more sinister than I imagined, boss. Should we go back first, make more preparations, and then come back?" Yin Zi was having second thoughts. Finley glared at him, his impatience almost overflowing.

Finley scoffed, "What else can we prepare? How about we send a tank to flatten the mountain? That's the safest way!"

This is a common argument within the team; every time they go into a tomb, someone hesitates, but in the end, they still go along.

"What kind of vine is this? Has anyone seen it before?" Brother Sun asked.

"I don't know. I've encountered vines with suckers that draw blood in the tomb of King Kong Zhong before, but this is different." Scarface pointed to the menacing, restless vines in the cave. "This thing is like a snake; look, it can even stand upright like this."

Yu Xing followed his finger and saw that the snake-like attack method made the vines look even more eerie. Suddenly, he remembered the milky white bone-like object he had brought out of his pocket.

He observed it carefully for a while amidst the lively discussion, and finally discovered with great interest that it really was a piece of bone!

Have you ever seen vines with long bones? I saw one today.

Yu Xing held the bone, which was thinner than his little finger, and recalled the cut he had glimpsed when he cut the vine. After the bone fell out, it seemed to be a hollow cavity inside.

He tossed the bone to Scarface, gesturing for him to look at it. "The inside of this vine is like a series of independent cavities. Underneath the skin is plant flesh, and under the flesh is bone. Nerves connect the flesh to the bone, and when they move, it's these bone segments that provide support."

"Damn, these vines are practically sentient! They even have bones!" Luke couldn't help but exclaim. "Why do they have bones?"

Since it was Yu Xing who discovered this, Luke habitually asked Yu Xing about it.

Yu Xing raised an eyebrow and smiled, "How would I know? Maybe... there are too many bones buried at their roots, and after being absorbed, their resentment lingers, causing them to regrow through the vines' bodies?"

"Are you telling me a ghost story?" Luke felt a chill run down his spine and regretted asking Yu Xing the question. He crossed his arms and went to the side to shut up.

Tsk, even tomb raiders are afraid of ghost stories.

Yu Xing was also curious about the origin of the vines, but he wasn't a biologist. Even ghosts existed in this world; what was wrong with plants growing in a unique way?

Half an hour passed, and the vines blocking the cave entrance had all disappeared. They had turned back to their emerald green color and obediently clung to the walls, even carrying up the vines that had been cut down by the crowd.

This also proves Yu Xing's idea. He felt that these vines should be sensitive to heat sources, or only become active in environments with increased temperature. Therefore, once the cave cools down, it would not be impossible to go in and clean up the battlefield.

He felt that if he had a broom now, he could clean the cave spotless.

"Alright, Shi Jiu and Troublemaker have probably left already, we won't wait for them." Brother Sun checked the time and finally announced the next move in a more tactful way, "Keep going, watch out for caves along the way, and don't forget about poisonous insects. We'd better get over this mountain before dark."

Everyone responded and got up from the ground, their boots making a soft, thumping sound as they stepped on the fallen leaves that covered the earth.

Luke wasn't in a high mood, and his best friend A Long, quietly stayed by his side, while Scarface took Shi Jiu's place and went to Yu Xing's side.

He kept his dagger in his hand the whole time, because he was the one who carved all the marks along the way.

Yu Xing noticed that Scarface would always slightly open his mouth as if he wanted to say something when Yu Xing looked at him, but he wouldn't make a sound. After a few times, Yu Xing took the initiative to ask, "What do you want to say?"

Scarface stroked his stubble, his gaze sweeping over the man's ankle. "Nothing much, I'm just increasingly impressed with you. You can tuck your pants in so tightly and walk so fast with an injured ankle, like it doesn't hurt at all."

Yu Xing thought to himself that this grown man was really observant. His leg hadn't fully healed yet, but the pain wasn't enough to make him show it on his face. He made up an excuse. "I get most injuries to my legs when I do extreme sports, I'm used to it."

"Sigh, you're not really into tomb raiding. If you were, you'd definitely be a ruthless one." Scarface even showed a hint of regret when he said this, as if he really wanted to persuade Yu Xing to give up painting and devote himself to the noble cause of tomb raiding, but that was obviously impossible.

Since they were already chatting, Scarface showed great curiosity about Yu Xing: "Hey, I heard that your paintings have a very weird style, like those in horror movies?"

Yu Xing: "Who taught you that adjective? Someone with no cultural background."

"That's what Brother Sun said." Scarface raised his chin, just as Brother Sun happened to glance in their direction.

The nine people were standing close together, and since the two of them weren't whispering to each other, the entire group could hear what they were saying.

Yu Xing: "... Then it's alright, he's right."

"Tsk tsk tsk, did these live vines give you new creative Spiritual Sense?" Scarface was surprisingly interested in this topic. Yu Xing glanced at him strangely. "What, you want to put down your butcher's knife and learn to paint with me?"

"How could that be?" Scarface shook his head and reached out to help Yu Xing up. "I just thought you were showing off, so I wanted to chat with you for a bit to distract you."

Yu Xing: Here it comes. The muscular man's strangely thoughtful nature is a pity he doesn't really need it.

The rest of the journey was uneventful, except for a noticeable increase in large gray insects and vines inhabiting the small caves. Everyone carefully avoided them, and finally, after sunset, they crossed the mountain.

They arrived at a quiet valley.

The air in the valley became even more humid, and as the sun disappeared, it emitted a fine, chilling sensation that seeped into everyone's clothes like maggots clinging to bones.

The surroundings were quiet, with fewer trees than on the mountain, but many more shrubs, and some plants with large leaves were in full bloom, appearing vibrant with life.

"This is a good spot, let's set up camp." Finley surveyed the terrain, waved his hand at a relatively flat, sheltered spot, and the team immediately sprang into action, taking out their tents and setting them up.

Yu Xing's tent was a small single tent. Scarface had already set it up for him without him having to lift a finger. In this respect, Yu Xing was particularly satisfied with his identity as a painter, which allowed him to be lazy whenever he wanted.

Afterwards, they ate some canned food and compressed rations together, chatted for a few minutes, and then Yu Xing went back to her tent to rest.

Although Brother Sun and Scarface in this team could procure some equipment that required connections, in his opinion, their financial resources were still lacking; the tents weren't sturdy enough, and the food wasn't up to par.

In terms of reaction ability, the team members' skill levels vary greatly. Let alone temples and tombs, even if these people were taken to Coffin Village, they might not all survive.

If something really happens, it will drag him down.

Yu Xing was secretly thinking about changing teams.

Since Shi Jiu was able to leave temporarily, it means there must be at least one group nearby, right?

Of course, he was just thinking about it casually, to prepare himself mentally so that he could react as quickly as possible when he had no choice but to leave.

As darkness fell, his intuition told him that this valley, which had no name on the map, was no harmless place; its dampness alone was enough to breed countless strange plants and animals.

He had half his body stuffed into his sleeping bag, timing his wait for the system's second wave of background projections. During the boring wait, he silently listed all the information he had in his mind.

Regarding the tomb palace.

The group of tomb raiders, and the potential financiers behind them, were pursuing a resurrection technique developed by demon daoist priest.

Judging from the ancestral hall in the Coffin Village, the existence of the black coffin will gradually affect an entire area, allowing people who were originally dead to regain consciousness and the ability to act, or perhaps they only have consciousness.

When he looked back as he left, the location of Coffin Village was a wasteland overgrown with weeds, and there was no village at all. It was hard to say which parts of what they experienced were real, which were illusions, and which were special realms created by ghosts.

In any case, temples and tombs must contain many things that can create illusions. Illusions are just as important and terrifying elements in tombs as corpses, ghosts, and traps.

Then there are the corpses. Unlike ordinary corpses, the Black Shrine endows the corpses in the Coffin Village with many characteristics that they shouldn't possess, even including the ability to "produce offspring," something only the living can do.

This is proof that the corpse truly possesses the characteristics of being alive.

Another point is that the zombies are very aggressive. He hadn't forgotten that night when the two villagers chased after Ju Lan with axes and knives, and the village chief's wife who knocked on his door in the middle of the night and peeked at him through the crack. During the day, these "people" only had slightly strange conversations, but at night they seemed unable to suppress their true nature and revealed their ghostly behavior.

From his experience in Coffin Village, Yu Xing could still glean some clues, such as the need for a black coffin for resurrection, the importance of the candles, and the almost obsessive enthusiasm of the living corpses for the change of leaders. Yu Xing still vividly remembered the scene of Zhou Qinghai dragging Zhou Facai away. He wondered if Zhou Facai was still buried under the big locust tree.

Hallucinations, zombies, candles and candle holders, leaders...

Yu Xing tried to piece together these clues, but ultimately failed because they were too fragmented.

But at least he had gone through the process once, and his perception of the tomb palace became much clearer.

Not long after, the system notified us that we had arrived on time. This time, the background seemed to be a direct continuation of the previous one, so it was a seamless transition.

[Just before setting off, you received an invitation from your friend Carlos. Since you often chatted in a WeChat group, he knew you had joined the investigation studio. He greatly admired your abilities and hoped you could join his team on the journey to the tomb. However, you had already negotiated a price with Brother Sun, disguising yourself as a horror painter somewhat interested in the tomb, ready to depart with Brother Sun at any moment.]

Yu Xing: "?"

Carlos was indeed involved, but Yu Xing couldn't understand why he refused Carlos. How foolish! If it were him, no matter how much money Brother Sun gave him, he would have betrayed him immediately. This San is so young, yet he has such a strong sense of responsibility. No wonder he's still caught up in the family feud.

With Carlos's paper doll ability, he's a godsend for navigating tombs, far more reliable than the rest of Brother Sun's team. Wouldn't it be better to cooperate with Carlos?

However, Yu Xing felt relieved knowing that Carlos wouldn't help him carry supplies or set up the tent.

That works too.

[Carlos didn't give up. He revealed some information he possessed, such as a more accurate version of the legends about the demon daoist, and that he had made contact with the team searching for the Black Shrine around the world. That team had a more accurate guess about the tomb's structure, all to entice you.]

[You neither agreed nor refused. You learned from Carlos that their group would depart three days earlier than Brother Sun's, so you replied to Carlos, saying you'd meet him at the tomb. If your goals didn't conflict, you could find an opportunity to leave Brother Sun's group and rejoin him.]

[Upon hearing this, Carlos jokingly whispers to you to be careful of the insects, vines, dead people, and flowers around the tomb. He's unwilling to reveal more, presumably using the information he possesses as leverage to entice you to join.]

That's all for now, Yu Xing: "..."

This system is such a pain! Couldn't they have just mentioned the insects, vines, dead people, and flowers in the initial background message?

He rubbed his temples. The giant gray worm and the vines had already appeared; the former killed Ade, and the latter wounded the entire team and left two missing. What were the dead bodies and flowers that followed?

That sounds really interesting! I'd love to see it for myself...

The wind outside the tent was getting stronger, Yu Xing gradually felt tired. All the running around this day had taken a toll on her energy.

He burrowed deeper into his sleeping bag, still on guard, intending to get some rest. He'd heard from Scarface that they had to set off at daybreak the next day.

Whether he was incredibly lucky or incredibly unlucky, just as he was about to fall asleep, a series of light and disordered footsteps sounded outside his tent.

Yu Xing was not yet sound asleep, immediately woke up. He squinted and looked outside, and saw a strange figure casting a grotesque shadow on his tent through the moonlight.

It was a tall, thin figure, seemingly carrying something in his hand. He stopped outside Yu Xing's tent and just stood there, refusing to move.

What's it like to wake up one morning to find a silent person standing outside your tent?

Interesting!

Yu Xing had only one answer. He picked up the dagger next to his sleeping bag, grabbed the tent zipper with his left hand, and pulled it up without hesitation.

The zipper made a buzzing sound as it slid, seemingly startling the people outside. Yu Xing pulled open the tent and found that the person was gone.

He peeked out and saw complete silence all around. The other team members' tents remained intact, and no one came out.

Where did they go? Did they hide behind the bushes?

Yu Xing hesitated for a moment between sleeping and going out to find someone, but the other person made the choice for him.

A drop of blood landed on Yu Xing's head. At the same time, a metal plaque fell beside Yu Xing. Yu Xing's eyes adjusted to the light, and with the help of the bright moonlight, he instantly saw the contents of the plaque.

It was a brand name tag, and it said, "Troublemaker" on it.