Stepping forward a few paces, the path ahead brightened, revealing the end of the road.
The three looked around. It was a long corridor adorned with murals, the eerie green-glowing wax lamps having vanished, leaving the corridor in pitch darkness.
The light was too dim, so Wu Tianzhen activated the illumination function on his Guangnao. Fatty, now unnerved by the saber behind Zhang Qiling, shamelessly squeezed himself closer to Wu Tianzhen.
"This, it seems to tell a story?"
Wu Tianzhen leaned in for a closer look, saying with a hint of confusion.
Their current position was the beginning of the mural's narrative. Countless small figures were pushing a tall, imposing figure onto a throne.
"This depicts the Li tribe's development and prosperity in the Dandan Great Ridge, discovering herds of cattle under the guidance of a great chieftain..."
"Wait, what is this?"
Behind the chieftain in the mural, a long and powerful creature was coiled!
The creature was immense, almost level with the adjacent small mountain, shrouded in mist, with what appeared to be lightning encircling its head. In the presence of such a phenomenon, the chieftain seemed divine. Below him, the Li tribespeople knelt in deep reverence.
"Good heavens, a divine dragon!"
Fatty exclaimed from beside him, "Who would have thought these mountain folk also believed in such superstitious nonsense, pretending to be the Son of Heaven!"
But then Wu Tianzhen suddenly said, "No, it's not a dragon."
"No horns, no feet."
"It's a snake!"
The image of the Li tribe's sacred beast, Ji, flashed through his mind: a bull's head, human body, and snake's tail. Snakes were already symbols of faith for the Li tribe.
He became engrossed in the murals, too preoccupied to explain to Fatty, and eagerly continued to look.
"The Li tribe carved through the mountains to house the giant snake and sent beautiful maidens to serve it."
"Later, the Li tribe waged war with an unknown tribe. The giant snake, summoned by the chieftain, joined the battlefield. In an instant, the enemy was drenched in blood, and the Li tribe became the most powerful tribe in the vicinity of Dandan Great Ridge."
"Then..."
The continuous murals abruptly stopped, as if violently destroyed. Wu Tianzhen shone his light to the very end, finding only a fragment of the mural remaining.
In the final mural, the Li tribespeople had vanished. Only the chieftain remained, ascending into the clouds on the giant snake, bathed in colorful light, achieving apotheosis.
"It's a shame the mural isn't complete; otherwise, we'd know exactly what he did."
"Yo, this old fellow has quite a peculiar hairstyle!"
Fatty, unconcerned with historical narratives, focused on finding humorous details in the artifacts.
Wu Tianzhen followed his gaze. The chieftain's hairstyle in the depiction was indeed unusual, with two long, curved horns on either side of his head, resembling... bull horns?
With bull horns on his head and a giant snake beneath his feet, he was clearly trying to transform himself into the sacred beast Ji!
This was his path to godhood!
"I understand!" Wu Tianzhen exclaimed, his face beaming with the joy of solving the puzzle, eager to share his discovery.
He turned around, only to freeze.
"Uh, Little Brother..." he even stammered, amused by Fatty, who was mocking the chieftain's bull horns, but soon, Fatty also became stunned.
"Where's Little Brother?"
Meanwhile, Zhang Qiling, who had merely walked two steps in the opposite direction of the murals, had entered a peculiar secret chamber.
Zhang Qiling: ...
Where were they?
Just as he was about to criticize the two for their undisciplined departure from the group, he heard the system's clear and irritating voice.
[Host has successfully embodied the professional missing person attribute of Little Brother, aligning with the character's image. Performance rating +3.]
[Current performance rating: 42%.]
[Unlock remaining memories of Little Brother, loading now.]
...
So, he was the one who got lost?!
The newly added memories were extensive, causing a dull ache in his head. However, he persistently recalled the scenes of disappearance from Little Brother's memories, comparing them carefully, and indignantly felt that he was much easier to manage than Little Brother!
Was this intentional disappearance? It was clearly this randomly devouring secret chamber that was being unfair!
This was clearly not a safe house for an explorer. As he reviewed the memories, the previously inanimate statues in the chamber had all turned to face him.
Their ferocious stone faces stared intently at him, but he paid them no mind.
He now only wanted to leave this accursed chamber and had no intention of cooperating with the statues' performance.
Unexpectedly, the statues were completely unwilling to play along. Seeing that intimidation had no effect, they actually began to move, attempting to subdue him by force.
Watching the exit mechanism, which he had just discovered, being deliberately blocked by the statues, Zhang Qiling took a deep breath and drew his Black Gold Ancient Saber.
Statues: ...Holy crap! Who let him in?!
—
While Zhang Qiling was playing a game of smashing all the statues in the secret chamber, Wu Tianzhen and Fatty were once again engaged in a desperate, prolonged marathon!
"I, I say, Tianzhen, your wife is quite enthusiastic!" Fatty, almost twisted around, still managed to make a snarky remark for his own amusement.
Wu Tianzhen glanced back, his voice cracking with exasperation, almost breaking into a falter, "It's *your* wife, this is all *your* wife!"
Behind them was a horde of snake-tailed female monsters clad in tattered white clothes, their hair disheveled. The sound of snakes slithering was utterly chilling. Dozens of them were crammed into the narrow corridor, their pale arms flailing wildly, hitting the faces of their companions.
[Ahhhhhhhh, what the hell are these things!!!]
[Little Brother! Little Brother, come out quickly! I really can't handle this without you!]
[Little Brother must have been eaten by these things already...]
[I don't listen, I don't listen, it's impossible, Little Brother ahhhhhhhh, woo woo woo woo!]
Originally, Zhang Qiling's blood on their clothes should have had an effect, but the problem was that they had fallen into the moonworm pool for too long. That thing, whatever it was, had dissolved much of the blood from their clothes.
Now, only their running speed could save them.
Wu Tianzhen and Fatty ran for their lives, finally seeing the end of the corridor, and hope reignited!
As long as they could reach a place with more complex terrain, they might be able to escape these snake women by taking detours!
With this expectation, Wu Tianzhen unleashed his potential and sped up again, but after rushing out of the corridor for only a few steps, he felt something was wrong!
"Damn it, Fatty, don't run!"
Hearing the shout, Fatty slammed on the brakes, and the two gasped for air in the narrow passage.
The end of the corridor was a vast abyss, so deep that no light could penetrate it!
They were now standing on the edge of the corridor, a space barely wide enough for a few people, with a towering cliff face on the opposite side of the abyss!
For a moment, they found themselves at a dead end!
An icy chill emanated from the abyss, making them shiver, but at this moment, their hearts were colder than their bodies.
"Damn it, let's fight those women!" Fatty, seeing escape was hopeless, his reckless spirit flared up.
He pulled out a handgun from his bag and shoved it into Wu Tianzhen's hand. Then, reaching into his pocket, he actually pulled out several bundles of dynamite.
"Good thing Fatty came prepared!" He spat with a "peh," gripping the dynamite.
"You really have everything." Wu Tianzhen's voice trembled with fear, but he still aimed with practiced precision.
He had gone to a shooting range out of curiosity before, but this was his first time actually operating it.
The snake women quickly caught up, rushing to the mouth of the corridor, but they were so crowded that they couldn't move for a moment!
Fatty and Wu Tianzhen seized the opportunity, blasting the human bodies of the first few snake women. Just as they breathed a sigh of relief, several afterimages shot out from the foul-smelling blood mist, reaching them in an instant!
"Damn, what is that!"
Wu Tianzhen instinctively used his gun to swat one away. Upon closer inspection, it was a colorful giant snake, seemingly the tail of a dead snake woman!!
His pupils constricted.
"No, those aren't snake women!!! They're snakes!"
"These snakes are moving by biting the upper bodies of human females from beneath their clothes. These women are merely the leftover carcasses after the snakes have eaten!!!"
As the horrifying truth was suddenly revealed, both of them felt a chill, and they each grabbed their shovels to help beat the snakes.
However, the number of monstrous snakes was too great, and their stamina was limited, causing them to gradually fall into a disadvantage.
Suddenly, Fatty slipped while dodging a monstrous snake, only to realize he had retreated to the edge of the cliff without knowing when. His body tilted, and with only time for a surprised exclamation, he fell!
"Fatty!!!"
Wu Tianzhen lunged forward without a second thought, grabbing him. But Fatty truly lived up to his name; he was impossible to pull. With monstrous snakes flying towards them from behind, Wu Tianzhen was of no use and was pulled down along with him.
The two unlucky fellows, falling, clung to each other, letting out yelps and cries.
The cliff was unnaturally smooth, like a mirror, making it impossible for them to find any leverage to save themselves.
Just as they believed they were doomed and began to make their final confessions to their Guangnao, a loud explosion sounded, and a large hole was blasted in the middle of the cliff face opposite them!
Amidst flying debris, a figure in black fluttered, leaping out!
After a second of falling, he used the cliff wall as a pivot, instantly gaining momentum. Before they could react, he was already in front of them.
It was the long-lost Zhang Qiling!
He grabbed Fatty's shoulder with one hand and plunged his Black Gold Ancient Saber into the rock wall with the other. Seeing this, Wu Tianzhen quickly clung to Fatty's leg.
Fatty felt as if his shoulder was being gripped by an iron clamp, and with a surge of immense force, he, along with Wu Tianzhen, was flung across the abyss and into the hole Zhang Qiling had just blasted open.
They landed heavily on the ground. Before Fatty could even cry out in pain, Wu Tianzhen crashed onto his stomach, nearly knocking the wind out of him.
With a soft thud, Zhang Qiling landed. He looked across, and the monstrous snakes were crowded at the edge of the cliff, hissing.