Corpse Poison Victim

Entering the tomb passage, there was a massive stone door over three meters high and two meters wide, sealed from the inside—no ordinary person could get through.

"Blow this door open with explosives!" Ying Caihong said coldly.

"Yes, Master!" her subordinates replied.

"Hey, hey... be careful!" Wang Kaixuan immediately stepped forward, not about to let them mess around. With his guidance, the explosives were placed precisely. A muffled blast later, the stone door shattered, and the tomb chamber officially opened.

"It's blown open!" someone came to report.

Ying Caihong smiled. "Push it open!"

"Yes, Master!" The subordinates responded and went to shove the stone door open with a group of people.

Rumble...

The stone door creaked and groaned as it swung open.

Everyone's eyes fixed on the pitch-black tomb. As the door gaped wide, a plume of gray smoke rushed out.

"Ah!"

Some people near the door flailed their arms in fright.

Wang Kaixuan snorted with a laugh and stepped forward. "What the hell are you flapping at? That's just millennium-old pigment volatilizing when it hits the air. Look at you, embarrassing yourselves."

"See that, see that? That's the difference between a pro and an amateur!" Big Gold Tooth immediately chimed in to flatter, glancing at Ying Caihong's expression as he spoke smoothly.

"What script is this? Is it Khitan script? What does it say?" Big Gold Tooth stopped in his tracks, staring at a stone carving on the ground.

"Obviously, even a moron could guess—it says tomb raiders die!" Wang Kaixuan's voice came from up ahead.

"But that's more than four characters, isn't it?"

"Wow, this mural, these figures—over a thousand years old, and in this condition, you could trade it for a big yacht in the States!" Big Gold Tooth couldn't tear his eyes away from the wall paintings.

Xiao Hen stuck close to Ying Caihong, scanning ahead while keeping a sharp eye on her. He remembered clearly: in the side quest, once he entered the tomb passage, his task was to protect Ying Caihong until he obtained the Flower of the Other Shore.

Xiao Hen followed step by step at the rear of the group, glancing back now and then. The path behind was pitch-black and still—Hu Bayi wouldn't be coming for a while yet.

The tomb was eerie and sinister. Cobwebs clung to the corners, dark shadows lurked in the gloomy nooks, and strange inscriptions covered the walls.

Before long, the group finally reached a vast open space. It was empty, with rock walls on all sides. They followed the path onto a large terrace, at the center of which lay a massive skeleton. This colossal skeleton rode a tall horse, clad in armor and crowned with a diadem—majestic and imposing.

Seeing this, Big Gold Tooth perked up like he'd been injected with adrenaline. "Look, look at this big shot! Look at that style!"

Wang Kaixuan immediately doused his enthusiasm. "What are you gawking at? That's just a doorman!"

"What are all these statues? That one looks like a dog's head!" Big Gold Tooth surveyed the surroundings and spotted some statues inside stone alcoves.

"I'm telling you, don't touch anything!" Wang Kaixuan said as he began his survey.

Xiao Hen smiled faintly, knowing Wang Kaixuan's warnings were wasted breath—Ying Caihong and her crew wouldn't listen. He didn't want them to, either. He needed them to collect the three keys along the way to unlock Princess Augu's steel coffin and retrieve the Flower of the Other Shore.

Sure enough, as Wang Kaixuan and Big Gold Tooth moved away, Ying Caihong immediately ordered her subordinates to take the Round Key from the Knight Skeleton.

Crack...

The moment the key was taken, the Knight Skeleton instantly weathered away, its remains crumbling to dust and sweeping past. Xiao Hen and Ying Caihong, standing farther back, avoided the cloud's path.

Ugh...

The few people caught in the dust coughed and spat, brushing the grime off themselves. Xiao Hen, gripping his submachine gun, stepped in front of Ying Caihong. Seeing this, Yoko also moved forward a step, her heart stirred.

Sure enough, before long, the three who'd been showered with the skeleton's ash began coughing and convulsing.

"What's this?" The others were baffled, all on guard.

"Everyone, stay alert—they might be infected with some kind of corpse poison!" Xiao Hen shouted, snapping the group to attention.

Ow...

Roar...

The three Corpse Poison Victims went berserk and started attacking everyone.

Ying Caihong and her people panicked, immediately chanting incantations in hopes of warding off evil. But Xiao Hen knew it was all fake. He and Yoko charged forward to engage the three victims.

"Don't touch them, or you'll catch the poison!" Xiao Hen yelled as someone moved in, but it was too late—someone had already been infected.

Bang bang bang...

Xiao Hen's short submachine gun opened fire, driving back one charging Corpse Poison Victim. But the bullets couldn't kill them. He fired again, stubbornly, yet still no effect.

"Damn it, guns are useless!" Xiao Hen holstered the submachine gun and drew his dagger, standing in front of Ying Caihong. Any Corpse Poison Victim that rushed in was knocked back—he couldn't kill them outright, but he could repel them. If he didn't want to reveal his true strength, he could've thrown them all off the cliff alone.

"Run!" Big Gold Tooth was scared out of his wits, having never seen such monsters.

"What's there to fear? Watch me!" Wang Kaixuan, a seasoned tomb raider, had dealt with this before. He attacked the Corpse Poison Victim, but after a long struggle with no effect, he pulled a black, lumpy object from his pack and shoved it into the victim's mouth.

Instantly, the Corpse Poison Victim froze.

Big Gold Tooth shrieked. "Could that be the legendary bane of the Big Dumpling—the Black Donkey Hoof?"

Before Wang Kaixuan could answer, the Corpse Poison Victim, supposedly subdued by the Black Donkey Hoof, grabbed the black thing and tossed it away, lunging fiercely at the two.

"Huh? Why didn't it work?" Big Gold Tooth ducked and fled.

Luckily, Wang Kaixuan still had his shovel, blocking the Corpse Poison Victim's attack.

Unfortunately, the good times didn't last. The Corpse Poison Victim's attack was too ferocious, immediately turning to strike them. There wasn't just one Corpse Poison Victim—there were several. Xiao Hen wasn't the only one using a gun to attack, but unfortunately, firearms were useless against these monsters; they couldn't kill them at all.

'Damn it. I thought stocking up on all this ammo would come in handy inside the Goddess Tomb, but it's completely useless!' Xiao Hen gripped a dagger in his hand, kicked one charging Corpse Poison Victim away, then slashed out with the blade, severing another's arm. He flipped and delivered a backward kick, sending it flying.

"Esteemed Teacher, please step back—it's dangerous here!" Xiao Hen said warily.

"Thank you. With you and Yoko protecting me, I'm fine." Ying Caihong smiled.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Xiao Hen's sharp senses detected someone approaching.

Was that Hu Bayi coming?

A clawed rope descended from above, latching firmly onto the back of a Corpse Poison Victim and yanking it away from Wang Kaixuan.

"The king of heaven covers the tiger of earth..."

A voice rang out from a distance.