Chapter 108: Crisis

At the edge of the flashlight's dim beam, a pair of feet appeared, clad in tattered cloth shoes with holes. As Zhang Qinglin raised the light, the feet retreated rapidly, then suddenly turned and bolted. A disjointed, strange sentence drifted back: "It wasn't me who killed you, Zhusha, it was him—that madman killed you, don't follow me..."

Zhang Qinglin and Chi Tan exchanged a glance before pursuing, bodies hunched, one after the other.

If there are living people down here, there must be an exit, Zhang Qinglin thought, closing in on the frantic man. He reached out to grab the man's ankle, but the man kicked hard, broke free from Zhang Qinglin’s grip, and tumbled forward into the darkness.

Zhang Qinglin reached the edge and shone his flashlight down. Before him lay a dark, gloomy abyss and a steep slope.

Zhang Qinglin rushed down the slope with agile strides, shouting, "Stop!"

The staggering man widened his eyes and retreated, only to be blocked by Chi Tan, who had circled behind him.

When the flashlight beam hit the man’s face—covered in festering sores—it was enough to turn one’s stomach. He wore an ill-fitting leather jacket. With trembling fingers pointing at Zhang Qinglin, he asked, "Who, who are you people? How are you in this place?"

"That’s a question we should be asking you. Who are you, and did you kill those people?" Chi Tan demanded, hands on his hips.

"I didn't kill anyone," the man said, panic-stricken.

"How did you get in here? Where is this, and where is the exit?" Zhang Qinglin scrutinized him, his tone softening slightly. "Don't worry, as long as you tell us where the exit is, we won't hurt you."

From the man, they learned this was Tianmen Cave. The cave was small and naturally formed; the stone disk above had been a place for mountain god offerings centuries ago. Particularly the tree in the center of the disk had seen massive changes in its surroundings over the passage of time.

Few people came here, and those who did were almost exclusively seeking the legendary treasure of the Dulan Ancient Tomb. Anyone who had ever arrived here had never left alive.

In a cave along the side wall of the stone disk lived a white-browed pit viper and a red-haired orangutan, kept by a deaf man who lived in a wooden hut in the forest. They were used specifically to capture tomb raiders who came seeking the rumor.

"My name is Su Fei. I'm from Chapu Township. I often come here to pick up scraps—valuables from the tomb raiders the deaf man throws down the cave—to sell outside."

Zhang Qinglin frowned in disgust. "Those are human lives. How could you not stop him, instead scavenging from the dead?"

"It’s for survival. Besides, I couldn't stop him. If the deaf man caught me, I’d end up like those raiders—either bitten to death by venomous snakes or tortured by the red-haired orangutan, before having my head cut off and hung in the trees."

Chi Tan felt goosebumps rise all over his body, grimacing at the unimaginable, gruesome scene.

Zhang Qinglin asked again, "Why were you so nervous when you saw us earlier?"

Su Fei explained that he had come two days ago looking for more treasures. Hidden on the cliff, he had seen two people fall. Initially, he thought they were tourists because one had a camera hanging from his neck. But when he saw the other man—the one without the camera—he was shocked: it was Zhusha, the madman from Chapu Township.

He watched the two struggle until the red-haired orangutan dragged them onto the stone disk. The man with the camera was hauled up to the sacred tree, and the deaf man appeared. In the fierce struggle, the man’s arm was severed by the deaf man, and during the chase, both Zhusha and the man fell into the hole.

Su Fei had entered the cave hoping to loot whatever he could before leaving. But Zhusha had suddenly woken up. Traumatized from his time in a body-recovery team, he was mentally unstable and gripped Su Fei’s throat like a madman. Then, the man with the severed arm woke up and scrambled to find an exit.

Su Fei said that after he broke free, he noticed a jade pendant on that man’s neck—clearly a high-value item. He snatched the pendant and crawled into this tunnel. The man was dragged back and pinned to the ground by Zhusha. When Su Fei left, he glanced back and saw the man staring at him; he must have been killed by Zhusha, but strangely, he hadn't seen the body just now.

As he spoke, Su Fei warned Zhang Qinglin and Chi Tan not to touch anything on the cave walls once they left, stating he wouldn't be responsible for any accidents.

"Is there something bizarre in this cave?"

Chi Tan walked forward with a curled lip, only to be stunned upon exiting the tunnel. Before him lay a hidden paradise: magnificent, ever-changing stalactites. The light emitted from the cave walls made the scene even more dazzling and colorful; he had never seen a cave like this.

Chi Tan approached the wall and observed it closely, realizing it was covered in thousands of fireflies, whose glow provided the strange light.

Zhang Qinglin clicked off his flashlight and walked in. Just as he was admiring the magnificent sight, a dark shadow flashed behind him.

He felt movement behind him and whipped around, but there was nothing there. Looking ahead, he saw Su Fei whispering for them to hurry.

Chi Tan looked back at Zhang Qinglin, who was walking toward him, and asked if he wasn't feeling well. Just then, a blood-soaked human head poked out from the dark cave wall behind where they had just emerged.

"What are you two standing there for? Let's go, we can't stay here long."

"I just saw a man covered in blood standing there," Chi Tan said, eyeing the pitch-black tunnel, still shaken.

"I’m the only one who knows this path. I didn't see anyone else when I came, and besides, only you two fell from above. There’s no one else."

"Could it be the person you robbed of the jade pendant? He’s come back as a vengeful spirit to find you," Chi Tan suggested.

"Stop talking nonsense. Are you coming or not?"

"Chi Tan, stop joking. We need to get out of here," Zhang Qinglin said, turning to Chi Tan after checking the cave entrance and finding nothing unusual.

They continued forward in silence. "Don't go with him, he will kill you," a voice rang out behind Zhang Qinglin. He stopped and turned again.

Standing behind them was a person in rags, covered in blood, swaying as he stared ahead.

Su Fei let out a terrified scream. "Zhu, Zhusha! It’s Zhusha! The madman isn't dead yet! Run, run!"

The Zhusha in front of them was the same madman who had escaped from the hospital with them.

Zhusha lunged at him, and Su Fei bolted without hesitation.

Zhang Qinglin and Chi Tan stepped aside, watching as the two grappled. It was clear there was deep-seated hatred between them.

Zhusha sat on top of Su Fei, strangling his neck. Just as Zhang Qinglin moved to help Su Fei, Zhusha shuddered and collapsed to the ground. Su Fei slowly sat up, gripping a sharp knife stained with blood. He brought the blade to his lips, licked it with his tongue, and looked at Zhang Qinglin with a terrifying gaze.

Chi Tan stared, trembling, at Zhusha, who lay on the ground, clutching his abdomen and breathing his last. He realized that Su Fei was the villain.

"I’ll deal with him, you go check on him," Zhang Qinglin said, clenching his fists and shouting at Su Fei, "That is a human life!"

"Heh, I told you—no one who enters here leaves alive," Su Fei said, lunging forward with the knife.

Zhang Qinglin dodged to the right and grabbed Su Fei’s arm. At that moment, the dying Zhusha wheezed, "He... he is the deaf man... he has the key... the exit is on the side... go to the end and climb up..."