Chapter 221

Everyone felt it simultaneously—something unusual existed here—so they paused temporarily in the middle of the white tunnel, taking the opportunity to move their numb arms, and due to the environment, everyone felt uneasy, hesitating, unsure whether to advance or retreat.

I began to suspect that this tunnel leading to the altar was fundamentally a trap, its contents constantly disturbing the five senses—sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste—maintaining a fixed posture that caused fatigue, making limbs sore and numb, dulling originally sharp senses, and the fishy stench of salted fish also threw thoughts into disarray.

Moreover, with tape over the eyes, there was absolutely no sense of direction; once overly tense, even slightly leaving one side of the tunnel wall would likely cause a turn, losing the reference for forward movement, but this was no joke—daring not to lightly peel off the tape to see what was in the tunnel, I could only remind those walking ahead: first, no matter what happens, must keep* the left wall, do not leave it; second, no one may dare to peel off the tape over their eyes, nor scare themselves, for that would be self-sabotage.

I heard Pangzi at the front of the line say to me: "Lao Hu, there are snakes in this cave, have you heard them? And not a few—if we don't peel off the tape, someone will die, are we just going to wait here to get bitten? I'm thick-skinned, leading the charge may not matter, but this commander is all iron and can still crush a few nails? Can't even withstand one bite from a venomous snake."

Under normal circumstances encountering venomous snakes, we would have ways to deal with them, but now five people are effectively five blind men—if there truly are venomous snakes in this tunnel, we are basically meat on a chopping board, only to be bitten and devoured.

I raised my index finger to my lips and told Pangzi: "Shhh……don't speak, listen carefully, first listen to see if there really are snakes." Ming Shu and others also held their breath, quietly listening to the surroundings; someone said that for the blind, hearing is stronger than ordinary people by double. Because loss of one bodily function causes another to be used doubly, thus becoming more developed, but we are merely covering our eyes, not truly blind, so I don't know if we are temporarily focusing all body and mind on the ears, or if this white tunnel, due to its unique structure, produces a special sound-concentrating effect—either way, even the faintest sound seems to be invisibly amplified, heard with exceptional clarity, further unsettling the heart.

Upon close listening, there were continuous rustling sounds ahead and behind, plus the "hiss hiss hiss hiss" of snakes flicking their tongues, and the quantity was so great it was hard to imagine; another possibility: perhaps their numbers are not many, but the tunnel amplifies the sound many times over, creating the illusion of a tide-like inundation—judging by the sound, the snake swarm seems to be rapidly approaching us; I don't know what the dozens ahead are feeling, but I can feel that Shirley Yang nearest to me is already trembling slightly; the powerful friction of snake scales and the unique metallic sharp sound when snakes extend and retract their tongues differ from any other snake species—this sound is very familiar, only the Jingjue Black Snake possesses it.

We once saw in the desert a kind of black snake with a small body and a tumor-like strange eye on its head, extremely aggressive and extraordinarily venomous—biting any part of a person causes death within seconds; the archaeological team member Hao Aiguo who went to Xinjiang died under the fangs of this rare venomous snake; that day in the Zegelama Valley, the cruel scene remains vivid to this day, unforgettable even if one tries to forget.

At that time we did not know its name or type, until in the temple of the Phantom Evil Luo Sea did we learn that in the ancient demon kingdom, there once existed a black snake called "Jingjian Ahan," guardian of the ghost cave.

If in this white tunnel leading to the altar we encountered the black snake "Jingjian Ahan," it would be reasonable enough, but we still lack sufficient mental preparation—beforehand, who would have thought that in this tunnel requiring closed eyes to pass safely, there would actually be so many venomous snakes?

I recalled the desert encounter, zoned out for a moment, and just then the lou snake seemed already at our feet, people's breathing also became heavy and tense—imaginable anxiety—everyone using maximum willpower to suppress panic, for everyone remembers the warning on the stone gate: absolutely must not open eyes, otherwise something terrible will happen—that is the tradition of the Luo Sea priests, likely based on some unknown reason; now we can only gamble on its correctness, and until the final moment, must not lightly break this ancient taboo.

I suddenly thought that if someone lost patience and peeled off the tape over their eyes, Ming Shu would certainly be the first to act, though Xiang is timid, she is relatively obedient, so I respectively supported Shirley Yang and Xiang's shoulders, felt behind Pangzi to Ming Shu's side, and with one hand grabbed his arm—if he made any untimely move, I could stop him in advance.

Shirley Yang reminded us from behind: "If truly there are black snakes with fleshly eyes on their heads, given their aggression, they would have already lunged and bitten us, but listening to the sound, the snake swarm's movement speed is not fast—there must be something wrong here; first, do not peel off the tape over your eyes."

I said to Shirley Yang: "In this world there is no venomous snake that does not bite—perhaps these guys just ate some snacks and temporarily have no appetite for us…… Speaking of snake bites, I suddenly recalled seeing some murals in the Jingjue Ancient City, depicting the brutal scene of venomous snakes biting slaves, slaves helplessly staring with wide eyes…… Right, it seems all slaves bitten by snakes are staring wide-eyed, dying with eyes unclosed—dozens of murals are identical—is this merely a coincidence? Or does the mural's information carry special meaning? Perhaps my memory is faulty, subjective imagination—slaves' eyes in the murals are not all staring—then the scene suddenly blurred in my left brain, but I still faintly feel that perhaps precisely because we have not opened our eyes, the surrounding venomous snakes do not attack us—maybe the black snake's tumor-like strange eye on its head senses the bioelectricity in human eyes, thus initiating observation—so in the white tunnel we must absolutely not open our eyes—is this the secret of 'Dahēitiān Jīléishān'?

This thought flashed through my mind only briefly, yet increased my confidence by a few points in not opening my eyes. I clamped Ming Shu's right arm, then stuffed his other arm to Pangzi, and together with Pangzi we held him in the middle—Ming Shu was startled, thinking I and Pangzi wanted to use him as a shield against snakes, and hurriedly asked: "What are you doing? Don't……don't……don't laugh wildly, no big no small, what exactly are you planning?"

Pangzi would not miss any opportunity for advantage, even if just verbal—he promptly replied: "Planning to have you marry your grandmother, give birth to a son to be your father, yo……a snake just crawled onto my foot……" In the darkness came the sound of Pangzi kicking the snake away—middle Ming Shu suddenly felt his body sink—if not for me and Pangzi supporting him, he would now be terrified to death, likely collapsing to the ground.

I also felt the writhing snake body beside my foot—this situation naturally makes one feel terrified from the bones, entering this white tunnel is like facing a test paper full of multiple-choice questions, requiring continuous correct judgments, sometimes even no room for thought, and only a perfect score suffices—any tiny choice error brings immediate life-or-death judgment, irreversible—what we must now decide immediately is—under siege by the snake swarm, whether to peel off the tape over our eyes, whether we can risk breaking that thousand-year taboo? I could barely restrain myself, lifted my hand, but ultimately did not peel off the tape.

At this moment only Ming Shu's trembling voice was heard: "Snakes, venomous snakes……venomous snakes have crawled onto my neck, save me, Hu Lao Di." I too was mentally distracted, holding Ming Shu's arm slightly, feeling him suddenly pull out his right arm—probably trying to swing his hand to shake off the snake crawling up his neck.

I reacted—before Ming Shu's arm was fully withdrawn, I again tightly grabbed his hand: "It's fine, don't mind it, this damn is all illusion, not real—venomous snakes cannot appear out of thin air—now snakes are front and back, we came this way without feeling any snakes……" Before the words finished, I felt a "pah" sound on my mountaineering helmet, something fell from above, icy and slimy, "hiss" as it slid down the helmet to my back shoulder—that icy fear instantly spread through the body—this cannot be an illusion from "Dahēitiān Jīléishān"—two hundred percent real venomous snake.

I discarded my earlier estimate—that not opening eyes prevents black snake attacks—into the back of my mind, no longer holding Ming Shu's arm, hurriedly swung my mountaineering pick to pull the snake from my back, then heard Pangzi loudly curse: "Is it you, Harbor Farm? You old immortal, how dare you throw snakes onto my skin, making my flesh crack and seek practice?" Possibly Ming Shu also took the chance to pull out his hand, shake off the snakes on his body, but unexpectedly flung them onto Pangzi.

Shirley Yang and Xiang kept waving away snakes beside them—we were originally a single file along the tunnel wall, but to monitor Ming Shu and prevent improper actions, we changed formation to three in front, two behind, two horizontal rows advancing—now disturbed by snakes, the formation instantly collapsed.

My eyes were covered, I saw nothing, also didn't know who bumped me once, I staggered several steps sideways, stepped on a soft, fluffy object underfoot—without looking I knew it was a snake—I already felt a bit overwhelmed—where did all these snakes come from? Hurriedly lifted foot and turned, after standing firm I began to feel, already unable to tell east from west.

At this moment I heard Pangzi shout nearby: "Can't take it anymore, I've had enough of being blind, I want to open my eyes and look!" I hurriedly followed the sound, grabbed his arm, and shouted: "Absolutely must not peel off the tape—if those snakes truly intend harm, we would have long been dead by now—if you ignore them, they cannot sense our presence, will not attack."

The others hearing Pangzi and my shouts also followed the sound over, everyone regrouped—Ming Shu, still shaken, breathed heavily and said: "Hu Lao Di truly lives up to being the top expert among the Gold-Tapping Colonels—calm in crisis, foresight like a god—everyone absolutely must not open eyes; from now on, whatever you do, we will follow."

Shirley Yang whispered to me: "There is such a possibility, but I feel it's not just this simple—this tunnel is full of hidden dangers, and human self-control has its limits—our eyes here have become a burden—staying one more minute adds one more danger—we must move forward as quickly as possible."

To resume advancing, we must find the correct direction—but now we have completely lost our sense of direction; the only plan is first to find a wall to rely on, then consider—surrounding snake movement sounds pierce the ears, conservative estimate not less than several hundred—I pulled everyone toward one side to feel around. When encountering snakes on the ground, I lightly kicked them aside, then diagonally felt the icy tunnel wall.

Just as I stood firm, I heard footsteps from one end of the tunnel, very distant—I hurriedly reached out and shook the four people around me—Shirley Yang, Xiang, Ming Shu, Pangzi all present—who is following behind us? Or coming head-on? Recalling earlier when we peered into the tunnel from the stone gate, could that thing have returned?

The footsteps came from far to near, until within the white tunnel—listening to that sound was even more heart-pounding, the heavy footsteps with echo growing denser, each step making hearts jump—we cannot run, cannot see, momentarily no solution—five people huddled together, I gripped the paratrooper knife in my left hand, cold sweat pouring down continuously.

The tunnel's snake swarm was also startled by the footsteps—rustling and scurrying, they actually vanished completely—I hurriedly felt along the wall, found at a position very close to the ground some fist-sized holes, very deep—hand at the mouth, I could feel faint wisps of cold wind—these snakes likely all crawled in there—we wanted to hide but could not crawl in.

I said to Shirley Yang: "Could it truly be that the crystal stone naturally……has such movement and stillness? Listening to it, I don't quite feel right." Blind faith in scientific principles, blind faith in traditional superstition—essentially the same, both cause blind obedience, thought trapped in a fixed pattern—I do not disbelieve what Shirley Yang said, but putting myself in her place, indeed her speculation differs greatly from reality.

As we spoke, that sound had already reached beside us—I could still hear Pangzi gritting his teeth—imaginable, everyone tense to the limit—but that suddenly booming footstep sound abruptly stopped—due to the tunnel's special terrain, plus again beyond expectation, we actually could not hear where that thing landed—front, back, left, right all possible—like some thing had stopped in a nearby corner, staring at us, unknown what it intends—this moment suddenly fell into eerie silence, far more terrifying than if something had directly lunged at us.

Our nerves were taut, in high alert—after a long while no movement, we listened closely—besides our heartbeats and breathing, no other sound—everyone then slightly relaxed, thinking Shirley Yang was right—stop suspecting ghosts—this sudden sound, like a torrential downpour of footsteps, at least scared away those venomous snakes.

I felt along to count heads again—Xiang sobbed, asking me if I could peel off the tape, tears trapped inside, feeling awful.

I firmly refused her request—let her cry after exiting the tunnel—then discussed with Pangzi and Shirley Yang which way to go—since now we truly cannot tell which side our held tunnel wall is on, we must first find a way to confirm direction.

Although the white tunnel is not wide, it is not straight—human hands have only so much area—point-by-point feeling cannot judge which places have curvature—though here there may be no fork, feeling one wall and walking will at least return to start—but in the depths of the Luo Sea domain, these places holding ancient rituals, entering the altar tunnel, turning in a circle with nothing done and returning—would danger descend? We do not know, dare not guarantee—but this potential danger must be considered—if possible, better not to backtrack.

Pangzi said according to the commander's humble opinion, we need a plan—walk on high ground—because when entering from the dead volcano, the stone gate opened westward—this equals walking from the lower part of the second-level underground lake to the upper level of the first-level underground lake—the altar is surely directly beneath the ancient city ruins—the higher the westward elevation, the higher that side is west.

I thought it over, suddenly had an idea, then told Pangzi: you know it's the humble opinion, no need to say—walking westward is definitely correct—but you must not forget, from Longding Glacier to this white tunnel, the Luo Sea domain has one greatest feature: these people worship the abyss—we have always been going downward—going deeper brings us closer to our goal—so I dare guarantee with my head: although this tunnel leads to the western first-level underground lake bottom, it is actually sloping downward—should walk downward.

Shirley Yang said: "Walking downward is definitely a precondition, but we cannot use our eyes to see, and even if the tunnel slopes downward, the gradient is extremely small—hard to feel—how can we judge which side is high and which low?"

I said this is also easy—still the old method "encounter water to find the middle way"—said while taking out the water flask, slowly pouring the water inside onto the ground, feeling which way the water flows—then we know which side is lower.

Shortly the direction problem was solved—thus everyone reformed ranks, as before, feeling along continuing inward—here we cannot hurry even if we want to, only able to inch forward step by step—the mysterious footstep sounds in the tunnel come and go, seeming to tightly follow us—I silently cursed it in my heart—yet could do nothing—heaven knows what ghost thing that is—now only able to uphold optimistic spirit, think of the bright side—perhaps just the "sound-moving stone" inside making natural noise playing tricks.

After walking another three or four hundred steps, still not reached the end—but at least shows our forward direction is correct—otherwise after over a hundred steps we would have returned to the entrance—this white tunnel is very long—time spent walking long, still cannot grow accustomed to its environment—if long exposed to this dark disturbance, anyone's psychological endurance is tested—moreover nearby there is a ghostly thing like a shadow following us.

Walking along, I suddenly remembered an important matter—thinking of these, my whole body actually began to tremble—I hurriedly said to Shirley Yang ahead: "Since entering the tunnel, I have overlooked a detail—the stone gate has this tunnel's taboo: must close eyes to enter—but I and Ming Shu……even before we entered together, had already stuck our heads from behind the stone gate to look into the tunnel—that definitely means we already crossed the threshold's boundary, that is, from the very beginning we already broke this place's rules—certainly no mistake—of course this is all Ming Shu's doing."

Shirley Yang heard this, slightly startled—then said: "So what we thought all along has deviated from direction—if there truly is some evil spirit or harmful substance in the white tunnel, it would have already been released—why have we not suffered real attack?"

Shirley Yang's thoughts moved quickly—just finished speaking her inner doubt, she already gave herself the answer: "We are……sacrifices—those black snakes do not attack, of course possibly because we keep our eyes closed, but more likely because we have all been marked as sacrifices."

I sighed—being a devil's sacrifice, walking willingly toward the evil god's altar—what mood in my heart? Really damn unpleasant.

I was inwardly cursing my fate when Pangzi ahead stopped—only heard him ask: "Hu Commander, is that altar square or round? I've already reached the end—come over and feel—these stones are very strange."

I went over to Pangzi, then naturally felt the front stone wall—its shape like twisted hemp rope—bare hands cannot discern the terrain—I wanted to peel off the tape to look—anyway already a sacrifice, already peeked in head—should die early if to die—at tunnel entrance—but suddenly a thought struck me—I started scheming against Ming Shu's intentions.

I thought back to when we encountered snakes—I had worried Ming Shu would lose control and peel off his own eye tape, so I and Pangzi held his arms—but now I suddenly feel that earlier action was somewhat excessive—given my understanding of Ming Shu, he is suspicious, has a few schemes, and moreover a deep-city merchant—of course in perilous places, his insufficient aspect would show, seeming affected—but he absolutely understands stakes—if among the five, one first cannot bear pressure and peels off tape, that person absolutely would not be Ming Shu—but the twentieth would definitely not be him—this time if I don't tease him a little, Hu Mou would not even bear the surname Hu.

I quietly took out the unused tape, secretly tore off a piece, and gently stuck it on my forehead, then I repeated in detail to everyone what I had just said to Shirley Yang with the torch, and now whether to remove the tape or not no longer matters, at least I and Uncle Ming have already broken the taboo in the tunnel, anyway we have reached the end here, so I will take the lead, open my eyes to see if there is any danger, saying this I moved closer to Uncle Ming and tore off the tape on my forehead with force, it hurt so much I only grimaced, this was deliberately done so Uncle Ming could hear it clearly.

Uncle Ming heard me tear off the tape, yet nothing dangerous happened, so he followed suit, I heard him tearing the tape and rubbing his eyes, after a while, probably his eyes had recovered from the darkness and adapted to the surrounding scenery, only to hear him say in surprise to me: "Are you kidding? Didn't you already take off the tape? Hu Bayi, Hu Bayi, you jinx, dragging elders and kids into trouble, this nasty trick even a fox spirit couldn't think of."

I secretly gloated and also took off the tape, for a moment my vision of the surroundings was still a bit blurry, but I heard Uncle Ming suddenly stop complaining about me and instead exclaimed in shock: "No, Miss Yang didn't say those footsteps were from what vibrating stone crystal? That that that…… what is that behind us?"

My eyes still couldn't see clearly, I only felt a faint white glow around, I strained to look toward our rear, several meters away, I seemed to vaguely see a dark, blurry shadow.