The waterway was narrow, leading straight to the opposite side, forming a natural guiding line. Because of this, the group didn't turn on many lights, relying solely on the illumination from a flashlight held by Xie Yuchen, who was at the front.
The gray centipedes on either side rustled softly in their slumber, like piles of explosives with crackling sparks, ready to detonate at any moment.
In the shadows behind the light, Wu Tianzhen saw the trembling antennae of the centipedes, intertwined like long, thin strands of hair. At first glance, they resembled long-haired female ghosts clinging to the walls.
"Heaven protect me, may my power as the Evil Sea King not erupt at this moment, heaven protect me!"
The beauty of those centipedes made Wu Tianzhen dare not look directly at them. He lowered his head, staring at the heel of the Fatty's shoe in front of him, praying frantically. To show his sincerity to the gods, he secretly sacrificed thirty jin of the Fatty's fat in his heart.
The Fatty, suddenly forced into a diet, was unaware of Wu Tianzhen's mutterings behind him. He was currently engrossed in playing with the optical computer that Black Glasses inexplicably had a faint signal on.
Wu Tianzhen glanced at the screen of the optical computer and saw that "Good Luck Is Coming" was already resting quietly in the playlist at the bottom, ready to go. His face gradually turned blank.
"Fatty... Fatty—!" he called out in a low voice, "Control yourself, don't unleash your musical talent here!!!"
"Ah, I know, I know, I haven't even pressed play yet!" The Fatty glanced at the centipede lords on both sides, patted his chest, and guaranteed, "I'm just preparing to play it as soon as we get out, to let these homebodies who haven't seen the sun in years feel the joy of dancing!?"
"Just like that Zhang Haike, didn't you see how much more cheerful he became after mastering dancing skills? He's all smiles every day, so happy, hahaha~"
Wu Tianzhen: ...Is there a possibility that his smile is a smile hiding a knife?
Regardless, after receiving the Fatty's assurance, Wu Tianzhen breathed a sigh of relief. However, after thinking it over, he still felt uneasy. So, he patted the Fatty's back again:
"No, Fatty, turn off the volume of the optical computer first. Otherwise, I'll always feel in danger."
Wu Tianzhen's repeated reminders also made the Fatty vigilant. As he reached for the volume button on the optical computer, he replied, "Damn it, it can't be that weird, right? If none of us touch it, can it still ring by itself!?"
And at that moment—
A deafening "Ling—" suddenly exploded from the optical computer, reverberating in the narrow cave like a death knell, creating layered echoes!
A pop-up window on the screen emitted a blinding light, flashing red like a faulty signal lamp. A prominent communication number on it was relentlessly looping, like a soul-snatching messenger from hell.
...This was the serial number of Fatty's optical computer, and it was actually a communication from Fatty's optical computer!
But hadn't Fatty's optical computer been heroically destroyed when they were washed down by the water?!
With a "clang," the Fatty instinctively smashed the optical computer onto the ground. Under the heavy impact, the pop-up window became stuck and then slowly disappeared, turning into a red reminder window for a missed call.
"Holy crap, it actually rang by itself?!" The Fatty gritted his teeth and turned off the volume.
Freed from restraint, the optical computer slowly floated up again, proving its resilience and sturdiness with its actions.
"Guys, you're quite playful," Xie Yuchen, who was leading the way, glanced at the incoming call number with a hint of speechlessness.
He slowly drew the dragon-patterned staff from his waist, and with a shake of his hand, he had already knocked away several twisted centipedes that were lunging at them.
...Although the Fatty's movements were not slow, the gray centipedes had already awakened from that earth-shattering sound.
These centipedes were like unlucky workers who had worked hard for a year, finally got their holiday, only to be woken up at six in the morning on the first day of the Lunar New Year by a huge ringing sound. They got up, only to find a work notification from their damn boss, and instantly became enraged, hissing and charging towards the group.
Wu Tianzhen frantically drew his gun and shot at a few centipedes, but a strange thought inexplicably crossed his mind. He blurted out:
"Fatty, you can't say it was my Evil Sea King power this time!"
"I didn't say anything just now, you yourself said the optical computer wouldn't ring by itself!!!"
Fatty: ...Are you saying this now!?
Fatty, despite his easy-going nature, refused to take the blame and immediately retorted:
"You can't say that. You, Young Master Tianzhen, were the first to mention the optical computer's volume. I was merely adding icing to the cake; you are the founding father!"
"It was clearly you—"
"If you ask me," Black Glasses, who had been wandering around, suddenly interrupted, the corners of his smiling mouth carrying a hint of danger, "why don't you two just split the title of Evil Sea King? Both of you are臥龍 (Wòlóng - Crouching Dragon) and 鳳雛 (Fèngchú - Phoenix Cub), both quite strange~"
Wu Tianzhen and Fatty: ...
This was probably the first time the two brothers had been so unable to hold their heads up in front of Little Black. They were speechless and then channeled all their indignation onto the centipedes.
The lunging centipedes exploded into masses of green juice in mid-air under the barrage of bullets, looking like burst berries.
The group had intended to clear the centipedes while accelerating towards the exit through the waterway, but with two "clangs" of colliding giant stones, stone doors fell simultaneously from both the front and back, completely turning the area into a happy lair for centipedes.
The centipedes that hadn't been cleared fell like raindrops onto Wu Tianzhen's head and body, crawling frantically in fright.
Although they were not poisonous, each of their fine legs was sharp. As they crawled rapidly, they left several small cuts on the skin. It didn't hurt, but it was extremely itchy. xxs
Wu Tianzhen yelled "Fuck!" and immediately started doing a tap dance, trying to shake the centipedes off by wiggling, but this only made the centipedes crawl faster.
"Damn it, brothers, get out of the way! Watch Fatty blow them up!!"
The few centipedes that had scratched Fatty's recently recovered dark circles made them visibly darker again, suggesting that these centipedes had coordinated with the black-haired fierce ghost that had just died.
He angrily spat twice into his hands and pulled out a precious pack of explosives from his bag!
At this point, Wu Tianzhen was being bitten relentlessly. He plunged his head into the waterway, the flowing water muffling Fatty's voice. He poked his head out with a "Huh?" and happened to hear the deafening sound of an explosion!
The intense, piercing sound swept over his ears, taking his good hearing with it.
Wu Tianzhen's ears buzzed as he got up and found that the three people in front of him were all covering their ears.
Wu Tianzhen: ...?