Chapter 69: White Web Sealing the Cave

But now, after this natural disaster, they had never had the chance to enter the mountains, and they did not know how they were doing, or if they had already met with disaster.

The night they had just come out of the Mining Tunnel, Cai Zhenlong and the others had originally wanted to go themselves first, but on the way... they underestimated the current Mutated Animal.

But it was precisely because of this that they were even more worried about the situation of their family members in the mountains. What if they had survived the disaster in the cave, only to be attacked by a Mutated Animal...

The more the young men thought about it, the less they could sit still. Today, Yang Pingxi had recovered enough to walk, so the few of them quietly snuck out.

After crossing several mountains and passing through a mountain pass, they finally saw the cave entrance that should have been buried in the shrubbery.

Less than ten percent of the surrounding vegetation remained; the mud had been dyed the color of their growth by the Black Rain, and after being washed away, it revealed some unburned, residual tree stumps.

——If those thin, twisted things could even be called tree stumps.

Upon reaching their destination, the young men did not relax in the slightest; on the large rock at the cave entrance, something that made one's scalp tingle was wriggling.

That state reminded Yang Pingxi of the white oil web from when his mother rendered lard during his childhood.

Even though everything was pitch black, only that thing was as white as fresh snow at night.

The few of them endured their nausea and watched the cave entrance worriedly, but they dared not approach.

Yang Pingxi had just taken a step when his arm was grabbed by Cai Zhenlong behind him, "Wait..."

But as for what exactly they were waiting for, they knew in their hearts, yet not one of them said it out loud.

"I'll go over first," Yang Pingxi gritted his teeth, a look of determination flashing across his pale face. Because of excitement or fear, his breathing pulled at his somewhat weak chest, "I'll go try first; if I don't come back, then you..."

The raindrops were clearly falling on the rain tarp, yet it felt as if they were smashing into their brains, shaking them with pain.

"Then think of another way!" Yang Pingxi threw out this sentence and walked forward somewhat impatiently.

In that cave were the children of people he had once been unable to save, the younger sister he had managed to save with great difficulty, and his only, last remaining family in this world.

"Call out first." Yang Shun, who had fought with a Mutated Mountain Rat at night, called out to stop Yang Pingxi, "If they are still there, at least they can give some reaction."

Having rushed through the mountain roads in the rain for several hours, Yang Pingxi's body, which had not yet fully recovered, was already overloaded, but he noticed more than the few brothers behind him.

Whether it was because of the cold, exhaustion, or despair, his voice began to tremble, "Shunzi, there are no footprints. Look, there isn't a single footprint in the mud..."

After saying this, he let out a hoarse sob.

It had been raining for so long that the mud was as soft as whipped cream on a cake; a single step would leave a deep or shallow footprint that would take at least several hours to disappear.

Yet from the cave entrance to the surrounding ten-plus meters, there were no footprints, nor were there any shallow pits that looked like footprints.

"Call out first!" Cai Zhenlong said fiercely, "Listen to Shunzi. It's only noon, there shouldn't be many Mutated Animals, call out first!"

Rainwater had entered Yang Pingxi's eyes, irritating them until they were bloodshot. He bit his cheek, forcing himself to be a little calmer, even if just a little, as long as it didn't affect his ability to make sound.

"Little sister, little sister!"

He called out twice and found his voice was a bit hoarse. Fearing his sister wouldn't recognize it was him and get scared, he switched to singing the nursery rhyme his mother used to soothe him with in his childhood.

"Beyond the mountains, beyond the hills, there lives a little immortal. The immortal wants to climb the mountain, to pick red fruit to coax A-Lian..."

When his mother was sent into the mines by the people in town, his sister had just turned one year old, so naturally, she didn't remember this nursery rhyme.

Later, when his mother was gone, it was Yang Pingxi who raised his sister. The same nursery rhyme was passed from his mother to him, and his sister listened to it as she grew up bit by bit.

He had thought that since his family had already sacrificed one female, his sister would be safe.

But in the second year after he left town to attend middle school, his sister was also sent into the mines.

The year his mother was gone, he was eight years old. Crying and making a scene were of no use, and he was even beaten by his father until two of his teeth fell out.

But the year his sister was sent away, he was fourteen; he was no longer at an age where he couldn't do anything.

On the day his sister's sacrifice was decided, a good friend from town rode his bicycle for dozens of miles through the mountains to tell him the news, and he returned to town that very night.

He had wanted to sneak his sister away, but there were people guarding the Ancestral Hall, and they, a few teenagers, were simply no match for them.

He had also thought about going home to settle scores with his father, but his father was a coward to the outside world, a piece of trash who couldn't even protect his own wife and children.

The brothers discussed it and decided to take action during the sacrifice.

They followed into the Mining Tunnel and watched helplessly as his sister was doused in tung oil, ignited, and thrown into the water deep in the mine shaft.

The few of them coordinated to create a distraction and rescued her from the water.

They tried their best to save her, but his sister's face was still burned. She stayed in the county hospital for over a month before she barely recovered.

The mines brought wealth to the town, but also devoured humanity. Whenever something happened at the mines, a woman from the town had to be pushed out as a scapegoat.

When exactly it started, and why it started, the young men could no longer remember, and when they asked their families, they all avoided talking about it.

But bound by interests, everyone kept their mouths shut. Those who asked where people had gone either suddenly fell ill or died in accidents; some even said they had run away, pushing all the infamy onto the poor women.

The few young men were all the male heirs of their families and were also notorious hoodlums in town.

They were known for being lazy and gluttonous, asking their families for money every day. Everyone thought this money was spent on their play, but they didn't know they were quietly helping the poor women.

This cave was discovered by Yang Pingxi's grandfather's generation; it was said to have been a wild boar den in the mountains in the past.

Later, when the mining activity became loud, the wild boars were all scared away.

They settled the rescued women here. With money to buy some daily necessities and food, plus the fact that no one came into the mountains, they could grow some vegetables and raise some small livestock, so they were originally able to get by.

No one expected that a natural disaster would suddenly occur.

Yang Pingxi had even planned that after he graduated from university and had a stable job in the city, he would slowly take them away.

Then he would find an opportunity to expose the truth about the town, let these people be punished, and let justice for the victims be served.

The plan was already mostly complete; returning home this Dragon Boat Festival to record some videos of the mine pits would have been the start.

Natural disasters are always things that cannot be predicted or resisted.

And now, besides the safety of these women, what lay before them was whether this matter still had any value in being exposed.

Yang Pingxi insisted on exposing it; no matter what the world had become, his mother and sister deserved the justice they were owed.

By the time the nursery rhyme was sung for the fifth time, the few of them could no longer control their impulses. The tragic outcome was one thing to anticipate, but when facing it directly, they realized they had no courage to accept it at all.

"I'm going to take a look!"

Yang Mang could no longer hold back; ignoring the others, he stepped into the mud, walking with unsteady, heavy steps, and rushed over.

Yang Pingxi could no longer sing either, coughing as he walked.

The cyan veins on his neck, which had faded a few days ago, were faintly reappearing beneath his skin.

The rest of them could no longer wait, and one after another, they grabbed their gear and followed.

"Damn it, how long is this ghost rain going to last?"

"Sister-in-law, Sister-in-law Qingqing, we brought some things, are you in there?"

Seemingly to bolster their own courage, the young men called out repeatedly.

Something like an oily web on the rocks almost sealed the entrance to the Mining Tunnel, wriggling like a living thing, making one's scalp tingle just looking at it.

Up close, it felt even more disgusting.

"What do we do?" Qizai, the most timid one who was also walking at the very back, grabbed Cai Zhenlong beside him, "Brother Long, are we really going in? Will the Mutated Plant attack us?"

Cai Zhenlong was the most level-headed among the young men and the best at weighing the pros and cons, "Maybe it was too far and the people inside couldn't hear us. Xi Zai, let's call out a few more times."

"What's the point of calling? The entrance is sealed, how could they still... damn it, what kind of hellish weather is this!"

Yang Pingxi was held back by someone, and the emotions he had suppressed for so long could no longer be contained.

"Their bodies were already in poor health to begin with, and Sister-in-law Qingqing's injuries haven't even healed yet. Those inhumane bastards, why don't they just go die? They are the ones who should die!"

This "they" also included the father who had died a few days ago.

Yang Pingxi was naturally a very emotional person, especially since he had witnessed his mother being kidnapped from their home during his childhood; he felt that everything was his own responsibility, that he hadn't protected his mother well enough.

If his younger sister, whom he had finally managed to rescue, were to meet with an accident as well, he truly wouldn't be able to go on living.

However, they took turns shouting for a while longer; there were echoes of them in the cave, but there was never the response there should have been.

"I'll go in and take a look," Yang Mang finally stood out and pulled out the wood hidden in the rain tarp, "Hurry, take it out and light it. Shouting like this is just a waste of effort. Don't slack off, move quickly!"

The group gathered together, draped in the rain tarp they had borrowed from the Boss, and each took out a little something, finally making a torch.

Although the fuel outside was gone, there was still some diesel brought into the Mining Tunnel, and they happened to have brought a small bottle out today.

The torch was lit, and Yang Mang covered it with the rain tarp and prepared to walk straight into the cave.

"Wait a second," Cai Zhenlong handed over a Curved Blade for chopping wood, "Take this. Be careful, brother, if anything happens, shout."

"Don't worry, who do you think your Brother Mang is? No matter what kind of thing it is, I'll just go up and kick its ass!"

Yang Mang smiled at the others and turned to walk toward the cave entrance.

The torch swept over the white Mutated Plant, and the wriggling web actually let out a "squeak-squeak-squeak" screech, then scattered like an animal.

"See, this thing is nothing special!"

Yang Mang's thick black eyebrows arched high as he looked back and gave the others a triumphant smile.

But he didn't see the usual admiration on his brothers' faces; instead, there was terror.

"Run!"

Yang Pingxi shouted and wanted to rush over, but his feet sank too deep, and one leg dragged him down, causing him to fall face-first into the thick mud.

The others reacted almost simultaneously, but before they could do anything, they saw those White Webs acting as if they were alive, covering down over Yang Mang's head.

"Ugh, ah!"

Yang Mang held the torch up, but this time the White Web did not retreat; instead, it entangled the burning flame and simultaneously secreted a large amount of mucus, rapidly devouring the fire.

Trapped, he only felt several snakes wrapping around him, and what was even more terrifying was that this thing was burrowing into his mouth and nose, carrying a disgusting, fishy stench.

Seeing Yang Mang in danger, the others could no longer care about anything else and one after another took out their weapons to attack the White Web.