[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-grave-robbers-chronicles":3,"chapter-the-grave-robbers-chronicles-the-grave-robbers-chronicles-chapter-464":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Grave Robbers' Chronicles",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},16321,44,"Chapter 464: We Are All Food for Miluotuo","the-grave-robbers-chronicles-chapter-464",464,"\u003Cp>\"Are you saying these Miluotuo eat people?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They eat every living thing they can catch. The most common way is they use a unique method to trap creatures that wander into certain cracks and caves, starving them to death, then eating their corpses.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We followed him back into the cave. \"What's this unique method you're talking about?\" Fatty asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They can seal off caves and crevices with their own secretions, trapping their prey inside the mountain. This process is very fast. These mountains are full of cracks, like a maze. Many people who go in find that the entrance they came through suddenly disappears.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fatty and I looked at each other, realizing what had happened in that sealed cave at the bottom of the lake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Or rather, they themselves can form rock. There are two kinds of rock here: one is real, originally existing rock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other is formed from the solidified secretions of their body fluids. This rock formed from secretions looks exactly the same as the original rock here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They swallow and corrode rock, then fill in the space with their secretions, like concrete.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this method only works on limestone, so when they encounter volcanic rock they can't advance. Another way is to splash strong alkali on the rock, which can also stop them.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Are you saying that the rock walls along this ancient road are all coated with strong alkali, so even though we can see the Miluotuo inside, they won't come out?\" Fatty asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I shook my head: \"After so many years, wouldn't rain wash it away?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Shadow Man said, \"The entire mountain path acts as a drainage channel when it rains. At the top of this mountain there is an alkali ore deposit. All the rainwater from the mountain peak washes down and is channeled into this drainage ditch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You see the slope of these mountain paths is particularly strange. The rainwater flows very slowly here, and the surface of the paths has many designs to hold water. So when the runoff comes down, there will be countless pools of water. After these pools dry up, the alkaline substances inside will be left covering the rock surface.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I remembered when we came before, the ancient road covered with logs that Fatty led us along—there were indeed a lot of puddles there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So, this is an extremely special primitive pasture?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I think the word 'pasture' isn't quite right,\" the Shadow Man said. \"The term we used back then was 'fish pond.' The rock is the water, and these things are the fish in the water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fish can swim freely within this area, but can never get onto the shore.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But does this relate to what you said, that if they enter the Zhang Family Ancient Building they will definitely die?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"There's a very common phenomenon in fish ponds. I don't know if you've ever fished. In a crowded pond, when you throw in bait, all the fish are attracted by the bait and gather around.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After they enter the Zhang Family Ancient Building, the area around it is set up with stone slabs coated in strong alkali. Those things can't get in, but they will be attracted by the heat emitted by the people inside and crowd around all sides of the Zhang Family Ancient Building—everything will be crammed at the entrance.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You mean my friends will be trapped and die?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Something like that, but the situation is even more terrifying than you think.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If too many Miluotuo gather around, the mechanisms of the Zhang Family Ancient Building will activate, and a large amount of strongly alkaline water will flow down from the ceiling, forming a water mist that fills the entire building, forcing the Miluotuo gathered around to retreat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The whole building will be immersed in a strongly alkaline mist, and no one inside can survive.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fatty looked at me. I didn't know how to continue. Fatty said, \"Wait a minute, so if that's the case, did you enter the Zhang Family Ancient Building? Then why are you still alive?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Shadow Man brushed aside his hair, revealing an extremely terrifying face, and leaned in close to Fatty. \"Do you really think I'm alive? I just haven't completely died yet.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at his face, I immediately realized how this kind of melting had occurred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It was the strong alkali—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I was in the tunnel at the time. This was just from being lightly sprayed by strong alkali gas, and it turned me like this. The people inside the building with us turned to water in an instant.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he said this, he regained his calm. Although his entire face was melted, I felt a pang of recognition—I seemed to know who he was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn't in that photo, not the kind of relationship I thought he had with Third Uncle. Just thinking about it gave me chills. But I had definitely seen him before. Where? Who was he? The more I thought I remembered, the more I couldn't recall. I struggled for a long time and finally gave up. I knew that without going through an album or completely relaxing, forcing it would only make things worse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Buddy, I feel for you.\" Fatty paced around the cave a few times, found there was nothing there, and sat down next to me. \"What are you planning to do? Fatty here knows a doctor at Peking Union Medical College. Looking at your condition, I think making you look like a person again is pretty hard. Maybe we can make you look like a bat instead.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I'm not leaving here.\" He drank some water and said, \"I brought you here just to ask you a few things. What you do afterwards is none of my business. Anyway, there's nothing you can do here.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I looked up, my heart skipped a beat—here it comes. I heard him say, \"I've said so much. Now it's your turn to tell me something I don't know.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What do you want to know?\" I asked, feeling a bit nervous. But then I thought, telling him something he doesn't know—doesn't that mean I can just make stuff up? He said, \"Who's in charge of you now?\" \"You mean in charge of—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"In charge of you bunch of 'Memorialists,'\" he said. \"It's been almost thirty years. Old Yu definitely isn't in his position anymore.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No one's in charge of us,\" I said. I could only guess roughly that he was asking about the management of that archaeological team from back then. \"This world has changed long ago. None of us are under anyone's control.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Actually, I wasn't sure if that was really true, but at least judging from the separate developments of the Xie family, the Huo family, and the Wu family, there was no longer any obvious sign of intervention by \"It.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No one's in charge anymore?\" he muttered to himself. \"You're saying no one is in charge. Was what he said true, then?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Who else did you hear that from? Have you been in contact with the outside world lately?\" I asked. From his words, it seemed he had heard this from someone else as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I won't contact anyone. You know how they operate. I know too much. If I want to live freely, maybe here is better,\" he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I said, \"But times have really changed. If you walk out of here, no one will persecute you anymore. That organization from back then is gone. Everyone—everyone is just trying to make money now.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Impossible. Times can change, but that thing never will. Wu Sansheng, why bother lying to me?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I sighed, not knowing what to say. This guy had been stuck here for so many years, and Banai was such a remote little village. He probably still thought the whole era was the same as it used to be. There really was no way for him to learn about the earth-shaking changes happening outside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Stop pretending,\" Fatty said then.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I turned to look at him. Fatty said, \"You speak so fluently. There's no way you've been alone here for thirty years. In a place like this, even if a disabled man had all kinds of skills, he couldn't stay that long and still keep his mind this clear. I've seen it before—if someone spends too much time alone, they can't even speak properly, let alone understand what others are saying.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I knew that fact too, so I said, \"Fatty's right. Is there something else you're hiding?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He let out a few strange, wheezing laughs. \"Wu Sansheng is still Wu Sansheng—always seeing what others miss.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hey, I was the one who called you out first,\" Fatty said, dissatisfied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I waved him off to signal him to stop talking. He said, \"The reason I survived was that the guide of the old team saved me and brought me back. Many people in that village saw me. They thought I was a madman. I only kept in touch with the old guide. He brought me food, and I traded things with him.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You mean the stuff from the people you killed?\" Fatty said. \"You stripped my clothes to trade them too, didn't you?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The old guide you mentioned—that's Pan Ma, right?\" I asked him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He nodded. \"No matter what the outside world is like, the things buried in this mountain should never be known to the world.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What happened to the others?\" he continued asking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I thought about it, feeling emotional. How should I put it? I had to make up a story, trying not to mention personal matters, only talking about a few families and some gossip I'd heard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After I finished, he fell silent. I could tell that toward the end, he hadn't really been listening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly I remembered something—the speculation Xiao Hua and I had had. Was the true purpose of the archaeological team really archaeology? Or was it like Pibao said—maybe the team was a funeral procession.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at that man, I suddenly felt that such an opportunity might never come again. In this world, maybe only one person from that archaeological team was left. It would be a shame not to ask him some very practical questions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But I couldn't figure out what his attitude toward us was. Trying to put myself in his shoes, I felt his current attitude was very dangerous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Toward others, his approach was to kill them all. The only reason he hadn't killed us was that we shared a common acquaintance, and he wanted to know why we had appeared here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A man like him wouldn't change his principles because of emotions. I felt that while he had been speaking casually, he was maintaining extreme vigilance. That meant he could turn hostile at any moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fatty's gun was with him. We had no chance of winning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn't ask directly. We had to be extremely careful. I made a mental plan of questions, picking a few that all left room for maneuvering. I went over them in my head, then mustered the courage to speak up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What exactly is it?\" That was the first question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He froze for a moment and looked up. I asked him, \"What exactly was it that you brought in back then?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What exactly is that thing?\" That was the first question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He froze for a moment, then looked up. I asked him, \"What exactly was that thing you transported back then?\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1905,"2026-05-28T17:14:10.150Z","2026-06-01T04:28:20.357Z",1,"deepseek-v4-flash","0092e9c4a808c707575125effd08ebe29d4b15d66fb92ab3bc13bb43280396d0","the-grave-robbers-chronicles-chapter-465","the-grave-robbers-chronicles-chapter-463",513,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-grave-robbers-chronicles-cover.jpg"]