Fan Debiao was so terrified that he almost fainted and collapsed to the ground, but was caught just in time by Su Yougui.
If it hadn’t been for Liu Dashao pushing them at the last critical moment, all three of them would have been swallowed whole by the giant snake. Just thinking about it made them shudder with fear.
Liu Dashao was the first to recover. “Climb up quickly! Climb up along the snake’s body!” With that, Liu Dashao was the first to grab the snake’s two-meter-wide body and slowly climb upwards. At this moment, the snake’s head had plunged into the ground and couldn’t rise quickly.
Liu Dashao led the way, followed by Su Yougui, then Fan Debiao, and finally Hu Beikang.
The four climbed up along the snake’s body.
Howl! Howl! Suddenly, the giant snake roared loudly, producing a sound like a dragon. Its body thrashed violently. Fortunately, the cave wasn’t very high—only about five meters—so they climbed up easily. As Hu Beikang grabbed Liu Dashao’s outstretched hand for help, the giant snake’s body crashed down. Looking down, they saw the snake devouring dozens of human heads. It kept sweeping forward wildly, swallowing everything in its path. The snake inhaled deeply, creating a powerful suction that pulled sand, stones, and human heads into its body. In an instant, thousands of human heads were devoured completely. Looking at the snake now, its body had doubled in size, much fatter than before.
Liu Dashao immediately led the group toward the other end of the snake’s cave. He knew that it was difficult for the snake to dig a cave, and it wouldn’t easily abandon its home. It would definitely return.
However, after running for quite some time, they still saw no sign of light ahead. They couldn’t help but feel puzzled: “This doesn’t make sense. The snake can’t be more than thirty or forty meters long, yet we’ve run at least a thousand meters and still haven’t reached the end.”
They couldn’t help but feel curious.
The group decided to stop and gather their thoughts.
Fan Debiao spoke first: “Master Fan, what do you think is going on? We’ve entered the snake’s cave. Is the entrance we came through the only one? Does this cave even have an exit?”
Liu Dashao replied: “Impossible. Snake caves must have both an entrance and an exit. There’s no way there would only be one opening. Also, the area we were in was near the snake’s head, which is definitely the exit since it needs to face outward to come out from the entrance. Have you ever seen a snake backing out?”
“But why haven’t we found the exit yet? You know the place we were at earlier wasn’t the real exit either. That was just a temporary opening the snake made to try to eat us.”
Su Yougui added: “Exactly. That means the snake’s cave extends even further than where we were.”
Liu Dashao was puzzled. Why was this snake’s cave so long?
Without dwelling further, Liu Dashao simply instructed everyone to follow him and continue forward, hoping to find an exit. Going back was impossible—the entrance was now a death trap where the giant snake would surely be waiting for them.
They walked for another half an hour, still without seeing any sign of light. In the pitch-black darkness, they had run for a long time without finding an exit. Their hope was fading.
This cave couldn’t possibly be this long. There had to be a reason. Liu Dashao calmed his thoughts and suddenly recalled an old legend: in some places, tomb owners would create fake tunnels to confuse grave robbers. These tunnels weren’t actually connected to the tomb chamber but were designed in a loop. Once robbers entered, they couldn’t see anything in the darkness and would just wander in circles, thinking they were trapped by supernatural forces. Even the boldest robbers would give up.
Could they have encountered such a phenomenon?
Liu Dashao said to the group: “Let’s mark this spot and see if we end up circling back. We’ll dig up the soil around here and pile it into a small barrier. If we end up returning to this spot, it means we’re stuck in a loop.”
When Su Yougui and Hu Beikang heard this, they gasped in disbelief: “What? Are you telling me we’ve been going in circles this whole time?”
Fan Debiao dropped to the ground, panting heavily: “Oh my god, kill me now! I’ve been running in circles like a monkey being made a fool of!”
Liu Dashao quickly reassured them: “Alright, alright, stop complaining. If you want to stay here and die, I won’t say a word. But if you want to live, follow me.” With that, Liu Dashao walked off. The other three could only roll their eyes, swallow their frustration, and follow him. They certainly didn’t want to become the snake’s lunch.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before they returned to the exact spot, seeing the barrier they had built.
“Can someone please explain what’s going on?” Fan Debiao asked the group in disbelief.
He refused to believe that all their running had just been in circles. Not only would others laugh at him, but he even felt foolish himself.
Su Yougui was blunt: “Boss, don’t you get it? This proves we were going in circles. All that running was just us going around and around.”
Hu Beikang added naively: “Well, maybe we weren’t walking in a circle. Maybe it was a square-shaped cave.”
Liu Dashao thought carefully. It couldn’t have been a square, since they hadn’t noticed any sharp turns.
He turned to the others: “If you want to live, follow me. Do exactly what I say, or we’ll never get out of this mess as a group of four.”
“Yes, yes, we’ll follow your lead. Tell us what to do,” the three of them agreed, looking at Liu Dashao.
“Good. If you have the determination, that’s great. Now listen—while walking, start tapping the walls. Look for any hidden mechanisms. If I’m right, the tomb entrance was designed in a spiral pattern. We have to circle the cave once to enter. Once inside the tomb, we can dig a tunnel to escape. That’s our only chance. Otherwise, we’ll either suffocate here or be eaten by the snake. Choose wisely.”
Liu Dashao spoke confidently, though inside he wasn’t so sure. He was just trying to comfort the group and prevent panic, because he knew that the real danger wasn’t the situation itself, but the fear growing in their minds.
“Alright, we’re with you. Master Fan, you’re our leader. If we make it out, I’ll give you all the gold and silver you want,” Fan Debiao declared, while walking and tapping the stone walls with his body, trying to find a hidden passage.
Sure enough, following Liu Dashao’s instructions, they didn’t have to search for long before they found the exit. Their hearts swelled with relief and excitement—they couldn’t believe how easily they had found the way out.
Liu Dashao carefully activated the mechanism, and another tunnel appeared before them.
A red glow immediately caught Liu Dashao’s attention.
In such a sinister place, caution was necessary. He stepped back immediately, fearing it might be the eyes of some creature waiting to attack.
He knew many tomb owners raised poisonous insects or curses in the passageways to kill intruders. These creatures could live for thousands of years, perfectly adapted to such environments.
So, to be safe, Liu Dashao waited for the red light to move, ready to destroy it if necessary.
But after waiting a long time, the red glow gradually weakened and finally began to fade. Liu Dashao felt something was off and cautiously approached. To his surprise, it was just a piece of burning debris from a torch.
That meant someone had passed through here recently with a torch.
Liu Dashao stood up and told Su Yougui.
“What? There’s someone else inside the tomb? Are you kidding?” Fan Debiao looked at Liu Dashao in fear. “Are they grave robbers? Or maybe zombies?”
Liu Dashao thought for a moment: “Most likely grave robbers. In places like this, there are often zombies, but zombies wouldn’t carry torches or walk around in such low tunnels. So we can basically rule out zombies.”
“Zombies? What zombies? Like those sticky rice dumplings?” Fan Debiao asked curiously, even drooling slightly.
“Zombies, or as you call them, ‘zongzi.’ But there’s a difference. Zongzi are flexible, their flesh may be rotting and slimy, like sticky rice dumplings. Zombies, on the other hand, are stiff and rigid all over, which is why they’re called zombies.” Liu Dashao gave them a quick lesson.
At that moment, Fan Debiao lost all appetite.
Truth be told, it had been almost a full day since they last ate, and the mention of “zongzi” made his stomach growl. But thinking about zombies shaped like zongzi, he quickly changed his mind—better to starve than imagine that.
“Alright, enough of that,” Liu Dashao interrupted. “Let’s keep moving.”
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