After everyone had rushed into the cave, they discovered that it was filled with countless branching tunnels, like a piece of Swiss cheese, densely packed yet all quite narrow, making the main passage easy to identify.
As they were running, Liu Dashao glanced back and saw a dark shadow steadily approaching the group. Suddenly, two red dots lit up behind the shadow. He immediately felt his skin crawl. Could it be those two flame-armored beetles again? That didn’t make sense—their speed should never be this slow. These red dots looked more like eyes.
The mummy was chasing the group, and those two red dots were chasing the mummy. Liu Dashao muttered a curse in his mind: “What the hell is going on? Are those red dots trying to play the mantis stalking the cicada while the oriole waits behind? What the hell do these things think we are?”
Just then, Fande Bao suddenly shouted, “Sh*t! Trap! Jump!”
Before Liu Dashao could figure out what was happening, he suddenly felt a flash of light and was hurled out of the cave, landing on solid ground.
Looking up, he was stunned. The place they had just jumped out of was the very cave he had seen earlier that had sent chills down his spine—the very same water pool with stone slabs.
Before he could think further, the mummy flew out of the cave. Fande Bao and Jackson raised their double-barreled shotguns and fired.
The mummy was hit twice but only paused briefly in midair before preparing to attack again. Just as its bloated, deformed body moved, a long tongue shot out from the cave and tightly coiled around it.
Witnessing this scene, everyone was shocked. Wasn’t this the same tongue they had seen in the murals? Could this monster inside the cave still be alive after all this time? What exactly was it? Could it really be a snake, as Fande Bao had suggested?
But what kind of snake had a tongue this massive? If it really was a snake, it would be record-breaking.
Zhang Jiao, the old mummy, was tightly wrapped by the tongue, leaving only his basketball-sized head exposed. The head thrashed violently, clearly trying to escape, but the tongue remained unmoved, seemingly indifferent to the mummy’s strength.
Suddenly, the mummy let out a deafening roar that echoed throughout the cave, clearly exerting all its strength. The tongue began to tremble, signaling that it might not be able to hold on much longer.
Without time to think, Fande Bao and Jackson raised their shotguns and aimed at the mummy’s head. But before they could fire, the tongue began to shake violently—perhaps the mummy’s strength was too great.
Fande Bao cursed, “Damn it! This tongue is deliberately against us! Let’s take it out too—either way, it’s just a threat!”
With that, he raised his shotgun and opened fire. Jackson, caught up in the moment, joined in.
Bullets flew, but none hit the mummy. They all struck the tongue instead. The powerful shotgun blasts caused the tongue to spew black liquid—possibly blood.
Then came a sharp “click-click” sound as Fande Bao and Jackson both ran out of bullets.
Looking toward the cave, the situation was worsening. The mummy had now freed one of its arms. Fande Bao, furious and out of options, pulled out his knife and hurled it at the mummy’s head.
With a “thud,” the tongue snapped back against the wall as the knife struck the mummy directly in the heart, pinning it to the stone wall with great force.
Seeing the knife strike true, everyone felt a surge of joy. The mummy hung motionless—seemingly defeated.
But just as they began to relax, the mummy suddenly twitched, tore free from the knife, and charged toward the group. Da Guozao shouted, “Run!”
Without hesitation, everyone turned and fled. But as they did, a thunderous boom echoed behind them. They turned back in shock.
A giant python—no, an enormous, monstrous python—burst through the cave entrance, extending part of its body. It clamped its jaws around the mummy and swallowed it in one gulp. Then it fixed its hollow, unsettling gaze directly on the group. Just a meter away, its eyes sent chills down their spines.
The snake was unimaginably massive. The cave entrance, over a meter tall, was barely two-thirds the diameter of its body, which had torn the cave apart just to emerge. Its sheer size spoke of immense strength.
The snake had a bizarre appearance. It had two long horns on its head, not on either side but aligned together on top. Its nostrils were enormous, and it exhaled heavily while staring at the group. Its mouth had two long fangs on the upper and lower jaws. Strangest of all were the patterns on its body—four distinct colors: green, yellow, red, and black, all jumbled together in a dizzying array. Colorful snakes were usually extremely venomous. Could this one be poisonous? Liu Dashao’s heart sank. “Holy sh*t, this thing is huge! If it bit an elephant on the head, the elephant wouldn’t last a second!” The thought made him instinctively tremble with fear.
A rustling sound came from inside the snake’s body—it was clearly still hungry. They were barely enough to be a snack. Da Guozao stared blankly at the snake, and the others were equally frozen in fear. At least the snake hadn’t attacked yet—otherwise, they would have died pointlessly.
Just as they began to relax, the snake’s head lunged forward, sending Liu Dashao’s heart into his throat again. In just a few minutes, his heart had gone up and down so many times he worried about suffering a heart attack even if he survived.
But luckily, the snake’s head stopped just half a meter from Liu Dashao. He blinked in confusion. “Is this thing vegetarian?” Tilting his head, he realized the snake was stuck.
Despite being stuck, the snake continued to thrash violently, trying to reach them. Liu Dashao quickly shouted, “Back off!”
Everyone immediately retreated dozens of steps, moving to the farthest edge of the stone slab from the giant snake.
Liu Dashao looked at the snake and noticed that two or three meters behind its head, its body was still undulating. He immediately realized the mummy must still be inside the snake’s belly, causing trouble. Who knew the mummy could survive being swallowed and still put up a fight? At least this was keeping the snake distracted.
Liu Dashao scanned the area for weapons, but found nothing—not even small tools. Fighting the giant snake was clearly impossible. Their best option was to escape while the snake was distracted. He quickly turned to Da Guozao and asked if it was time to retreat.
Da Guozao ignored him, lost in thought. Liu Dashao was frustrated. Suddenly, Da Guozao shouted, “I know what this is!”
He pointed at the snake and said, “This is called a Xiu Snake. Legend says it can swallow elephants whole.”
Liu Dashao exclaimed, “Okay, it’s huge, I’ll admit—but swallow an elephant? That sounds a bit far-fetched!”
Da Guozao replied, “I read this in some ancient texts. The Classic of Mountains and Seas records: ‘The Ba Snake eats elephants and spits out their bones after three years. A gentleman who consumes its bones will be free of heart and abdominal diseases.’ Its body is green, red, and black. Another record says it’s a black snake with a green head, living west of the rhinoceros. There are two mentions of elephant-eating snakes in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. I never imagined they actually existed! This Xiu Snake must be even more valuable than pandas—it’s a top-level protected species!”
Fande Bao exclaimed, “Top-level protected species? If this thing were taken outside, humans would become the endangered species! This isn’t a snake—it’s a damn dragon!”
Upon hearing the word “dragon,” Jackson quickly pulled out a cross from his chest and began waving it frantically in front of the snake while reciting passages from the Bible. He clearly had as much superstition about dragons as the Chinese had about the numbers four and seven.
Jackson’s actions angered the snake. It bared its fangs and twisted its body furiously. Jackson quickly retreated, and the snake’s head slowly advanced toward the group again.
The noise grew louder and louder. Just as despair began to take hold, a sudden commotion erupted. A massive swarm of tendrils and fire worms surged from the walls and water toward the Xiu Snake. Turning around, the group saw the same sight behind them—entirely surrounding them. The cave had become a sea of insects.
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