As Wang Zhicai also began to roll his eyes, Liu Dashao felt a bit helpless. He had ordered them to jump into the water pool, but they still couldn’t escape danger. It was truly humiliating.
Just as he was at a loss, a sudden force pulled him downward. Liu Dashao thought to himself that one problem had barely subsided when another arose. Was it now the water ghost’s turn to make an appearance?
Before he could think further, Fan Debiao let out a low groan, and the whole group started sinking rapidly, as if pulled by a powerful underwater vacuum. They tumbled violently, like clothes in a washing machine, making Liu Dashao feel like his insides were about to spill out.
This lasted for about ten seconds before they suddenly rolled into another water pool. The previous turbulence had already left them disoriented, and plunging into yet another pool left them even more confused. Liu Dashao had nearly suffocated underwater and, without thinking, kicked hard with his feet. His head broke the surface, and without caring where he was, he took a deep breath.
Then he heard several splashing sounds. It seemed the others had surfaced too. It was pitch black; they couldn’t even see their hands in front of their faces.
“What the hell is this place?” Fan Debiao’s voice came from beside Liu Dashao.
“This place is full of water; it might be an underground river,” Wang Feifei said from Liu Dashao’s left.
Liu Dashao didn’t discuss where they were. The priority now was to check if everyone was okay. He asked, “Is everyone here? Speak up if you are.”
“I’m here,” said Jackson, followed by Elder Kelama, Lin Miaoke, and Wang Zhicai. Wang Zhicai’s voice sounded weak. Wang Feifei and Fan Debiao had already spoken, but Wu Bai remained silent.
“Where’s Wu Bai? Has anyone touched him?” Liu Dashao asked anxiously, fearing that Wu Bai might have died in the chaos.
“Oh no, Wu Bai is almost gone!” Lin Miaoke’s voice came from the darkness.
Fan Debiao was straightforward. “What’s wrong with him? Is he dead?”
“He still has a faint breath, but it’s very unstable,” Lin Miaoke replied.
Time was of the essence. Upon hearing that Wu Bai was still alive, Wang Feifei quickly urged everyone to search for any lighting tools.
Suddenly, there was a “puchi” sound, and a beam of light shot into their eyes. For a moment, it felt like their eyes were going to go blind. It took a while for them to adjust. Slowly opening his eyes, Liu Dashao saw two flares lighting up the air—they had been fired by Jackson. Liu Dashao had always known Jackson carried a flare gun, but he hadn’t expected Jackson to sleep with it too.
Liu Dashao surveyed the surroundings. They were in an underground river. Above their heads was a large hole that had sucked them down. Along the riverbank were two rows of stone pillars, neatly arranged. In the center was a pathway made of stone, heavily eroded, with some parts already turned to sand.
The path was about sixty meters long. One end had stairs leading upward, while the other led to an open stone door. Darkness lay beyond the door, and nothing could be seen inside.
They had no time to study the surroundings thoroughly—they needed to act quickly to save Wu Bai.
Wu Bai was a big guy, about ten centimeters taller than Liu Dashao, and weighed at least two hundred jin. It took Liu Dashao, Fan Debiao, and Jackson working together a while to carry him onto the path.
Earlier, when they encountered danger, Liu Dashao and Jackson had managed to carry Wu Bai and sprint like madmen. Thinking back, Liu Dashao felt like he wasn’t human, though he couldn’t help but admire himself.
Everyone in the group was at least a college graduate, except for Fan Debiao. Despite their scholarly appearances, only Wang Feifei knew anything about first aid.
Liu Dashao and Fan Debiao laid Wu Bai on the stone path. Wang Feifei checked his pupils and examined him carefully before saying, “He’s drowning; we need to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.” She then leaned down to begin.
Liu Dashao secretly cursed, “Damn! Wu Bai must be a fool with good luck. He dragged us all into this mess and now he gets a kiss from a beauty.” Liu Dashao even started imagining how nice it would be if he were the one drowning. Then he mentally slapped himself, thinking when he had become so impure. Now was the time to save lives, not to be jealous.
Wang Feifei performed several rounds of artificial respiration, but Wu Bai showed no improvement. Fan Debiao approached and said, “Miss Wang, I have strong lungs and good stamina. Let me do it. I guarantee I’ll wake him up in two seconds.”
Although Fan Debiao was indeed skilled at diving, he had no experience with artificial respiration. He imitated Wang Feifei’s previous actions, inhaled deeply, and pretended to do it properly. He leaned down and kissed Wu Bai, making “zi zi” sounds.
Liu Dashao found it disgusting and quickly tried to stop Fan Debiao. If Wu Bai woke up and saw this, he might commit suicide, and Fan Debiao would become a murderer.
Just then, Wu Bai suddenly woke up, saw Fan Debiao’s pig-like face close to his, screamed in terror, rolled behind a stone pillar, and shouted that there was a ghost.
Fan Debiao lost his temper and shouted, “You’re the ghost! I sacrificed my first kiss to save you, and you still call me a ghost!”
Wu Bai ignored Fan Debiao’s cursing, his eyes vacant, staring at Fan Debiao, muttering “ghost” repeatedly, and making strange laughing sounds.
Seeing Wu Bai’s condition, Fan Debiao got angry, picked up a stone from the ground, and prepared to knock Wu Bai out.
Liu Dashao stopped him, saying, “Fan Debiao, this kid isn’t right. It seems you scared him into madness.”
Fan Debiao said helplessly, “What? No way! I’m so handsome. Scaring him into madness doesn’t make sense.”
Liu Dashao said, “We don’t have time for jokes. Wu Bai really is mad.”
Fan Debiao didn’t believe him, raised the stone, and charged forward, ready to strike. But Wu Bai was completely unresponsive, muttering “ghost” with his head down. Suddenly, he looked up at Fan Debiao and let out an eerie laugh. The sound gave everyone goosebumps.
Fan Debiao was so frightened he retreated to Liu Dashao’s side, his forehead covered in cold sweat. He said, “This isn’t madness! I think this kid is possessed by an evil spirit.” He then took out a talisman from his chest and a black donkey hoof from his pocket, preparing to deal with Wu Bai.
Seeing Fan Debiao’s actions, Wang Feifei asked, puzzled, “Consultant, what are you doing?”
“This place seems to be a palace, with unclean spirits. I need to deal with it,” Fan Debiao replied.
“Unclean spirits?” Wang Feifei was very confused. While everyone else understood what “unclean spirits” meant, Wang Feifei, having grown up in France, didn’t. Jackson, who had been through the Buddha Mountain with them and understood the black donkey hoof, explained it to Wang Feifei.
Wang Feifei strongly disagreed with Fan Debiao’s approach, insisting everything should be explained scientifically. She couldn’t accept the idea of possession by evil spirits. According to her, Wu Bai had suffered a nervous breakdown from excessive fear and needed immediate treatment to recover. Saying so, she went to comfort Wu Bai.
Although Liu Dashao and Fan Debiao usually relied on science, they didn’t deny the possibility of possession, having experienced it before. Liu Dashao signaled Fan Debiao, then held a protective talisman and followed closely behind Wang Feifei, thinking that if it was just a nervous breakdown, it would be fine, but if it was possession, they would act immediately.
When Wang Feifei approached within two meters of Wu Bai, Wu Bai suddenly burst into laughter. The sound, combined with the eerie environment, hurt their ears.
Suddenly, Wang Feifei stopped, her shoulders trembling slightly. Liu Dashao and Fan Debiao immediately realized something was wrong and prepared to charge forward. But as they stood straight, they saw Wu Bai trembling violently beside the stone pillar. Gradually, his entire body turned black, and he started foaming at the mouth.
Suddenly, Wu Bai’s body went limp and fell to the ground, turning into a black, shriveled corpse within seconds.
Lin Miaoke screamed in terror at the sight. Liu Dashao and Fan Debiao both gasped. Wang Feifei was so frightened she trembled all over.
Liu Dashao noticed Wu Bai’s body twitch slightly. Before he could react, a black snake shot straight toward Wang Feifei like an arrow.
The snake’s impact was tremendous, flying straight at Wang Feifei.
Wang Feifei stood frozen, trembling slightly, clearly paralyzed with fear.
The black snake opened its mouth wide, revealing a blood-red interior, its upper jaw displaying two fangs dripping with blood—clearly the cause of Wu Bai’s death.
As the snake’s fangs neared Wang Feifei’s neck, Liu Dashao shouted, “Feifei, watch out!” and leaped forward, grabbing her shoulder and pulling her aside. The snake missed its target.
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