Bug Nest

A story full of holes.

If someone fell into a hole and couldn't climb out, shouldn't they call for help immediately? Why would they have the courage to enter a pitch-black cave, and happen to have a flashlight on hand?

Feng Ling listened silently as the two brothers spouted nonsense.

Zhou Diao seemed to have noticed something was wrong as well. Frowning, he asked, "Then who closed the rolling shutter outside?"

If both of them had fallen into the hole, why was the garage door closed?

Brother Chao shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe the Parking Lot Administrator saw there was a huge hole here and, afraid someone might fall in, closed the door."

This answer did not satisfy Zhou Diao, but he did not press further. His eyes remained fixed vigilantly on the deeper reaches of the cave.

The damp air carried a rotten stench.

Who knew what dangers lurked in the darkness?

After they traveled some distance, the slope became increasingly steep, and the air grew more foul and murky. Other than their footsteps, there were only faint, barely audible breaths.

Perhaps unable to endure the oppressive silence, Qin Liang spoke in a low voice. "This cave is full of pits and bumps. It doesn't look like it was dug by humans."

"Yeah." Xiao Li agreed. "If it had been excavated by people, it should be relatively level."

But if it had not been dug by humans, what had dug it?

Everyone wore different expressions as silence fell once more.

"Ow!"

Cao Hongyi, the tallest among them, clutched his forehead after bumping into a protruding rock overhead.

"Watch yourselves," Zhou Diao said gravely.

Brother Chao, who was walking at the front, said, "We're almost there. Once we get past the slope ahead, the path will be much easier."

Feng Ling glanced at her phone—

There was no signal.

This cave was deeper and narrower than she had imagined. She had no idea where it led.

Huangfu Miaomiao followed behind her without a word. Feng Ling had no idea how terrified she must have been by now.

After another few dozen meters, the group stopped. Feng Ling waited for a moment, then watched the people ahead jump down one after another.

The sound of them landing was clear. They seemed to have reached a lower platform.

When it was Feng Ling's turn, she shone her flashlight downward. Sure enough, there was a flat patch of ground below, less than a meter beneath the cave opening.

She jumped down lightly and swept her flashlight around.

Before her was an unusually vast, nearly oval cave about the size of a basketball court. Several pitch-black openings were scattered across the rock walls.

Humans would not dig something in such a strange shape.

This place reminded Feng Ling of a Bug Nest.

"The Xenomorphs are here." Brother Chao hurried forward a few steps and pointed at one of the openings. "There are lots of Xenomorphs inside."

Zhou Diao stepped forward to inspect it suspiciously.

Beyond the opening was a smaller cave, about the size of an ordinary classroom.

Four or five people lay inside. Just as Brother Chao had said, they looked like seriously ill or injured Xenomorphs. They had lost their basic mobility, rolling their bodies about in a daze and breathing faintly. Even under the harsh light, they seemed unresponsive, their eyes cloudy and unable to see.

Brother Chao looked pleased with himself. "See? I didn't lie to you, right? You brought rope. Once we kill these Xenomorphs, we can tie up the bodies one by one, drag them back along the path we came from to the Parking Lot, and then call the Supervision Bureau to claim the reward. We'll easily make tens of millions."

"Why go through all that trouble?" Feng Ling asked in confusion. "Wouldn't it be easier to call the Supervision Bureau directly and have them come into the cave to collect the bodies? Otherwise, we'll have to drag the Xenomorphs out one at a time. There's no need for that."

Brother Chao choked on his words and looked at Feng Ling. "...Of course not! How could one person kill so many Xenomorphs? Anyone with eyes would immediately see something was off. That's why I brought you all along. We'll drag a few Xenomorphs out first, collect the money, then come back in ten days or half a month and drag out a few more. Even if the Supervision Bureau questions us, they won't suspect there are sick Xenomorphs hidden here."

What a nice little plan he had. Feng Ling found it amusing.

She called Huangfu Miaomiao over. "Take a look."

Huangfu Miaomiao pressed close to Feng Ling. She only peeked inside once before shrinking behind her and tugging Feng Ling backward with all her strength.

"What is it?" Feng Ling asked.

Huangfu Miaomiao parted her lips and said softly, "They're all dead..."

Feng Ling looked at the Xenomorphs in the cave, then turned back to Huangfu Miaomiao. "Be clear. Who's dead?"

"They..." Huangfu Miaomiao pointed into the cave, her voice trembling. "All of them. They're all dead."

"Dead?" Zhou Diao frowned and looked at the Xenomorphs on the ground.

Qin Liang and the others found it equally unbelievable.

"They're still moving. Why do you say they're dead?"

"I don't know..." Huangfu Miaomiao clutched Feng Ling's clothes and said shakily, "I don't lie. I can only identify living creatures, but those... those are all corpses. A Contaminant must have done this. We need to leave now."

Brother Chao sensed something was wrong. Standing at the cave entrance, he studied them suspiciously. "What Contaminant? Who exactly are you people?"

No one paid him any attention.

Zhou Diao stepped forward, grabbed one of the Xenomorphs off the ground, and flung it out of the cave with all his strength!

With a bang, the Xenomorph's body hit the ground heavily. The flesh and bones inside it seemed to slosh along with the impact, making a gurgling sound as translucent pale-yellow mucus seeped from its nose and mouth.

Only from this close did everyone realize that what lay before them was clearly a corpse!

Huangfu Miaomiao had not been wrong. This Xenomorph was truly dead.

Brother Chao and Fang Ye were equally shocked by the sight.

Although the two of them had kept watch here for two days, they had never dared approach. With the poor lighting, they had seen figures moving from afar and assumed they were still alive. Who would have thought they were dead? All of them were dead!

The three Special Forces members reacted as if facing a great enemy, swiftly drawing their guns and aiming them at the strange corpses that would not stop writhing!

"Don't shoot," Feng Ling said. "There's something else in this cave. Gunfire will make too much noise."

Zhou Diao picked up another corpse from the cave and threw it over. "That's right. Don't shoot yet. Qin Liang, record this!"

"I've been recording," Qin Liang replied gravely.

There was a Micro Camera beneath his headlamp that could transmit footage to Su Yuqing in real time.

Even without a network signal, it could store the video and audio on its built-in chip. Once the mission was over, these would be submitted to the Research Department as research material.

The corpses shook violently on the ground, as though the flesh and bones beneath their skin had melted into water. Or perhaps some creature was wrapped inside the skin, writhing and churning.

Everyone felt sickened.

Feng Ling touched the axe in her hand and asked Zhou Diao, "Can I chop it a couple of times?"

"Don't mess around!" Zhou Diao turned back with a fierce expression. "You do everything according to my orders!"

Feng Ling curled her lips soundlessly.

That was one of the reasons she did not want to join the Supervision Bureau.

"There... there's something!" Xiao Li's arms tensed as she gripped her gun. Staring at the corpse before them, she shouted, "Something is crawling out!"