Chapter Sixty: Betting One's Life

  Just as I was about to discuss the farewell speech with Tie Yi, this guy suddenly shouted "Squat down" at me, and I instantly became confused.

  Such a majestic scene was ruined by such an action, and the flame of emotion that had just surged up in me was instantly extinguished by more than half!

  Just as I was wondering what this guy was going to do, he suddenly jumped up and stepped on his head, leaping high into the air at an angle. The iron lump that had just been by my side instantly left only a pair of soles in my eyes!

  I hastily adjusted the wolf's fang, and under its illumination, I saw Tie Yi pull out the bronze Chaser from his waist and slash it down at the top plate with a ferocity as if facing an archenemy who had killed his father, the force so great that it could be described as crushing dead wood.

  Then, under the reflection of the wolf's fang-like glow, the entire top was covered with strips of green light that pierced through the pitch-black roof. In the moment it fell, Iron Clothes pulled me back and leapt out a big step, closely adhering to the coal layer behind us.

  Just then, the spot where we were standing suddenly collapsed with a loud crash, and many rocks fell down, separating us from that vast expanse of golden armor ants. At this time, Tie Yi finally bent down and panted heavily, his forehead covered in beads of sweat the size of beans. After thinking for a moment, I finally understood what he was getting at.

  The well was already in a state of disrepair, and even the slightest vibration could cause a massive collapse. Just as Tie Yi was staring at the ceiling, he was calculating the force and angle of his move, because one misstep would have resulted in us being crushed to death before we were eaten by the Gold-Eating Ants. The fact that he managed to separate us from them with such precision and at such a short distance is truly a miracle, and I couldn't help but admire Tie Yi's skill even more for this move.

  At this moment, Tie Yi raised his head again and wiped the sweat from his face. I couldn't tell if he was exhausted or nervous, but it didn't matter anymore. It was clear that we weren't going to die for the time being!

  "I'd rather be beaten to death than be corroded to death by these things, the pain is not something that humans or ghosts can bear! This Gold-Devouring Ants is an extreme punishment used in the 18th layer of hell for serious criminals, extremely poisonous torture, soul scattered. Since I've made my choice, let's gamble once!" Listening to Tie Yi's words, I nodded in agreement, both hands and feet agreeing.

  He paused, pulled out a bottle of water from his backpack behind him, and gulped down more than half of it before continuing: "Just now I remembered that when we picked up those tools corroded by the gold-eating ants, the places without holes were because there was more coal dust, and in addition, the construction of this pool of gold-eating ants in hell is pure black and not like stone or jade.

  This is likely to be the gray area of yin and yang! So I thought that the reason why the golden ant might appear here is probably because the royal water on its body cannot corrode the coal particles!

  "Just now I found that there are many protruding coal gangue on our heads, so let's take a gamble! In any case, being smashed to death is better than the feeling of being bitten to death."

  Looking at this guy in front of me, I really don't know whether to feel lucky or unlucky, but deep down, I have a very solid feeling. When we encountered the choice between life and death again, that step he took made me certain, this is a brother for life.

  With brothers who share life and death together, what joy is there in living, what fear is there in dying!!!!!

  The massive collapse in front of us was like building a wall between us and the gold-digging ants, and now we were like entering an airtight compartment. Even if the ants couldn't get in, we certainly couldn't get out either. In this ten-square-meter space that was sealed off from the air, if we couldn't find a way to escape, what awaited us was still death.

  Starve to death, choke to death, be crushed by a rock, suffocate to death... all sorts of ways to die are possible! I thought about it and none of them feel good, the shape is not nice and it's painful.

  While I was thinking, Tie Yi stood up, "Don't think wildly, the road we came from is broken, let's see if there's another way out of this coal seam, maybe the thousand-year-old Wujin Stone is here too. Since we're already here, let's make do with it and leave it to fate. There's a gentle breeze here, we won't die for the time being, and who knows if there's a way out."

  As soon as I heard a way out, I suddenly became enthusiastic. In desperate moments, the greatest power is hope.

  After finishing speaking, Tie Yi continued to probe around with the wolf teeth in his hand. "As long as we're alive, there's hope. I'm rooting for you, Tie Yi!" As soon as he thought this, my exhausted body suddenly seemed to have a surge of energy.

  Iron Clothes' inference was correct, this coal wall indeed isolated the swarm of golden ants on the other side. For a while, there was no sign of any golden ants crossing the wall. The space was quiet and still, without a hint of movement. However, after searching every inch of this tens-of-square-meters space, we found nothing. As I sat down, drenched in sweat, I felt my strength slowly draining away. I opened my backpack, pulled out some emergency rations, and handed them to Iron Clothes. "Eat something and then let's continue searching," I said. "We're both shocked and hungry, and although there's a gentle breeze, the oxygen levels are severely imbalanced. I'm starting to feel like it's getting harder to breathe. The oxygen in this space is probably running out fast. At this rate, we won't last much longer."

  We were eating while continuing to look for the exit, and it's no exaggeration to say that this was a game of time against death. Although at this moment the gas detector didn't show any signs of danger, because we hadn't brought any flammable objects down into the well, the idea of smoking a cigarette before dying was basically impossible.

  "Your lung capacity is quite good, judging from your appearance you should be much stronger than me." Tie Yi didn't respond and continued searching, while I had already gradually lost hope, the last bit of it disappearing in my heart.

  Actually, there are some things I understand very well, but I just want to give myself a glimmer of hope. Even if life only lasts for one second, the hope in that one second will make this time meaningful and courageous.

  "If we really suffocate to death here, do you say the one with smaller lung capacity dies first or the one with larger lung capacity dies first?" Just as I was saying this, I felt like there were water droplets falling on my head, a cool and refreshing feeling.

  "Tie Yi, there might be underground water at the top of my head," Tie Yi came over upon hearing this, swung his wolf fang and took a look at the top of my head, then stabbed the wolf fang straight into the ceiling, nodding thoughtfully.

  "This place is so big, the exit has disappeared, even if the coal wall completely blocked the siege of the gold ants, but we only have one grain and water, which can't last long. Maybe we can find a way out by ourselves, but it seems like we're going to take another gamble! What do you think?" Iron Clothes said seriously, looking at me.

  Look at this guy's appearance, he might be about to make a fierce move again. However, given our current situation, we can only treat a dead horse as if it were alive. I nodded my head to indicate that I would take another hit for him.

  Looking at Tieyi's expression, I suddenly understood. Nothing was said, just a sigh, and then he squatted down again. I thought to myself, this male lead is also quite a loser!

  As soon as the iron clothes stepped on my back, I had a painful feeling of being pressed by Mount Tai and hit by a train. This guy looks thin but his weight is really not light, it's true that wearing clothes makes him look slim, taking off his clothes reveals his flesh, this kick is really vicious! In an instant, I felt my height shrink under this step, suddenly shortened to less than 1.8 meters.

  With the ear-piercing sound of metal scraping against stone, sparks flying overhead, stones flying everywhere, in this narrow space, there's really nowhere to hide, I'm being smashed and screaming wildly!

  Not once, not twice, but many times... I have a feeling of being trampled like a dog, and my height shrinking is temporarily not mentioned. This basically doesn't belong to the category of walking upright, but rather falls under the general category of crawling animals.

  Each time the iron clothes fell down, they looked at me and asked with their eyes if I could bear it!

  I nodded with tears streaming down my face, and after being trampled by the heavily armored man for over ten times while I was squatting, I thought to myself that this wretched life of mine had become the only one in the Cui family who committed suicide. If I were to become the only person in the world to die from being trampled, what a shameful thing it would be.

  As the massive pain sensation came from behind, Iron Clothes jumped high again, stabbing the coal top with that one-handed short sword, and this time the sound was distinctly different from before. The landing Iron Clothes pulled me to flash to one side, a huge cylindrical coal block fell on my head, followed by rolling water flow, pouring down.

  As I watched the water flow slowly engulf my feet, I felt a piercing chill, and to my surprise, this coal seam water was as cold as if it had been refrigerated. At that moment, I suddenly realized that we still had self-rescuers on us, so I quickly shouted at Tie Yi, but the sound of the water flow completely drowned out my voice. I could only use gestures to tell Tie Yi to open the self-rescuer in an emergency, fortunately, my actions were quite expressive, and Tie Yi nodded, putting me at ease.

  Looking up at the rushing water, I don't know if it can blast through the coal wall. The slight movement of the iron clothes triggered a series of collapses, and it's almost impossible to blast out a road. And on the other end of the wall, countless golden armored ants didn't know whether they had dispersed or not. It seems that we can only take it one step at a time now, will it be a path to life or death? The answer will be revealed soon.

  I stuck close to Tie Yi, rubbing my eyes vigorously with both hands, and transmitted my thoughts to him using the Blue Light Mind Reading Technique. Tie Yi stared at me and shook his head. I looked into his mind and saw what he meant: "The Gold-Devouring Ants are a type of insect that only moves forward. Even if they're facing a sea of flames or a mountain of knives, they'll keep moving forward, destroying everything in their path. Moreover, when these creatures encounter water, the royal fluid secreted by their bodies will dissolve into the water..."

  As I read to this point, I actually hope that the coal wall can withstand the impact of the water. If not, it will be a rhythm of death with no whole body in the king's water. Along with the white mist emitted by the water column, I feel an icy sensation spreading from my legs, like being pricked by needles.

  At the same time, we had to constantly dodge the rocks brought down by the water flow. If we were careless for even a moment, it would be a disaster, with at least a head injury and bloodshed. According to Tie Yi's idea, once the water filled this isolated small space, we could float up to the next level through the column-shaped hole on top of the water, and maybe there would be a way out. But if there was no space... The icy water flow was about to reach my chest, and I felt dizzy with blackness in front of my eyes, while my body trembled involuntarily. Tie Yi took out a rope from his body and tied our hands together, meaning that even in death, we couldn't get separated. I nodded hard in agreement.