[4]

The general consensus among the group is that there is something wrong with both the boatman and our guide. Whilst Wu Sanxing and Panzi (潘子) subtly questioned the two, I made sure to keep an eye (and ear) out for anything out of the ordinary (as in potentially dangerous).

Suddenly, I heard a noise coming from inside the tunnel. "Quiet, listen! There's someone talking!"

My hearing is many times better than that of ordinary people, so I immediately heard what others would have missed. Yet somehow, even I was not able to make out any words. Instead, I could only heard a slight sound of scrapping stones.

"Damn!" Wu Xie exclaimed behind me, "They're gone!" I turned around and found out that indeed, both the boatman and their guide had disappeared.

I almost frowned: I did not heard any splashing, so they can't be underwater. However, I did hear stones scrapping, and the natural conclusion to draw from that would be that they climbed up.

I looked upwards and discovered that indeed, the cave ceiling was littered with holes of all sizes, including ones big enough to fit a fully grown adult male.

Looks like the whole thing was a scam; they planned to have us die in this cavern since the very beginning. And there must be something truly dangerous here for them to be so sure that we will all die here.

Why did I take this job again? Oh yes, because Wu Sanxing felt familiar.

While I was sorting things out in my mind, Wu Sanxing, Panzi and Da Kui (大奎) had started bickering like children. They were arguing about whether one of them had ever eaten human meat, and if they had any death qi.

To be honest, I've always wondered if that did anything at all. Isn't eating dead humans physically the same as eating dead animals? However, it is not the time to be pondering such things.

Should I tell them that I've been in so many tombs that the death qi around me fan be compared to that of a corpse? Before I could come to a decision, Wu Xie spoke.

"The three of you added together equals to over 150, aren't you guys ashamed!?"

I was pleasantly surprised that Wu Xie himself wasn't panicking. He is astonishingly level-headed for someone who has never been in this situation before. Maybe he won't be completely useless.

Suddenly, I felt something large coming towards us. Or rather, multiple something rather small.

The boat shook from their passing and Da Kui went white from fear.

I resisted the urge to sigh; then again, it looks like I can't escape the fate of having at least one useless person in the group.

I've been away from this fandom for a while, mostly focused on MMORPG/VR fandoms, but now I'm back! Thanks to the upcoming Lao Jiu Men TV series. Hopefully, it's much better than the Lost Tomb. The trailer looks promising, though.

Damn. Now I want to write a fanfic for Lao Jiu Men. And the King's Avatar.