Professor Li slumped on the ground, gasping for breath. Ying Wenjie went over to help him up, but he waved him off and pushed himself to his feet with his hands on his knees.
"It collapsed..." He stared at the enormous pit, his voice faint. It was impossible to tell whether he felt relieved or regretful.
Boom!
A tremendous bang came from the collapsed pit, silencing everyone.
It was not the sound of falling rubble or collapsing earth. Something had struck upward from below. The ground trembled slightly.
Boom!
A second impact. Deeper and duller than the first, it sounded as though something were beating a drum far beneath the earth. The ground bulged upward under the blow, and cracks spread outward from the edge of the pit.
Boom!
A third impact. Huge rocks broke away from the pit walls and crashed to the bottom, raising fresh clouds of dust. The sound did not stop.
Boom, boom, boom—like a heartbeat, like war drums, like something awakening after untold years of slumber.
Qin Zheng stood at the edge of the collapsed pit, staring into the bottomless black hole. Behind him, his team had chambered their rounds, while the professors were sheltered at the rear of the group.
He remembered Professor Li's words: "Something evil is sealed here."
Qin Zheng's roar reached everyone. "Fall back to camp and secure every direction! Set up a full three-hundred-and-sixty-degree perimeter, no blind spots! Everyone form a defensive ring! Professors, get to the center!"
The underground tremors did not stop. The booming from the enormous pit grew faster and heavier, like a gigantic hammer pounding the earth's crust over and over.
Rubble kept breaking away from the edges of the pit and crashing to the bottom, sending dust into the air.
Everyone in the temporary camp