Chapter 10: The Underground Black Scales

  Zhou Xing shook his head and said to me: "This movement is not a zombie, it seems to be something that fell down with the stone cone. Everyone hide well, don't go out."

  Su Qin suddenly became anxious: "The corpse sealed in this copper coffin may be carrying a contagious disease, we've been staying here for so long, what if we get infected?"

  I shook my head and said, "This is not something to worry about. If it were a bronze coffin for burying the dead, there would definitely be a thousand-year-old resin seal on the mouth of the coffin, and cypress wood shavings would have been used to fill in the gaps between the coffin boards. We didn't find any of these things when we opened the coffin, so this bronze coffin is definitely not for burying the dead."

  Su Qin frowned and glanced at me: "Long Qiu, tell me the truth, are you guys tomb raiders?"

  I know Su Qin is a very stubborn woman, if she really thinks I'm a grave robber, then even if I explain the coffin board to her, it won't be of any use. So I just waved my hand and said: "This isn't the time to pursue this matter, listen to the noise outside, that thing outside definitely isn't a mechanism, and in a burial chamber there usually aren't stone wedge mechanisms. The stone wedges that fell earlier were probably added later. The collapse of the tomb's roof was likely to bring down something sealed above, ancient people used such things to guard tombs, who knows what it is."

  Su Qin let out a cold hum, remained silent for a while, and suddenly asked me: "I only know that some ancient tombs will raise some reptiles that can live for a very long time by relying on sleep. Will this thing outside be a snake?"

  I shook my head and said it wasn't clear, this bronze coffin and this burial chamber have a lot to do with each other. If the thing outside is an animal that wakes up from a long sleep, it shouldn't be able to live for much longer. Let's figure it out before we go out. Now everyone has dispersed, there are only three of us in here, so let's be careful and solve the problem in the tomb chamber first, then think of a way to meet up with people outside.

  At this time, Zhou Xing suddenly made us all stop talking. I heard the words and hurriedly turned my ear to listen outside, and then I heard the sound from outside slowly getting louder and starting to be piercing. This time, I was suddenly frightened out of a cold sweat, feeling that the sound was getting clearer and clearer, and upon closer listening, it was that familiar metallic friction sound.

  I immediately thought of the underground monster I encountered in the camp, thinking that it was not a coincidence that we met again after traveling all the way here. Previously, in the mountain valley, the terrain was open and we could still maneuver, but now the three of us were trapped in this tomb chamber, if we really had an encounter with that thing, how could we possibly fight back? Wouldn't it be like serving ourselves as a meal to the monster?

  Thinking of this, I grabbed Zhou Xing's hand and said: "Old Zhou, your vinegar jar is used up, right? Is there any other magic trick to deal with that thing?"

  Zhou Xing shook his head and whispered, "Let's hide."

  I saw Chow Sing Yeh was at a loss, and I felt even more uneasy in my heart, secretly thinking that this time his mother had really messed things up.

  The noise outside grew louder and it was clear that something was slowly approaching us. The three of us huddled in the coffin, not daring to breathe. Su Qin quietly stretched out her hand to try to pull the lid back on, but it was over a hundred pounds heavy and she couldn't exert any strength while hiding inside the coffin. After pulling for half a day, the lid didn't budge an inch.

  I was just about to tell her not to bother when another voice suddenly came from outside.

  This sound was mixed with the metallic friction sound, making a hissing noise, and it sounded like a snake spitting out its tongue. I found it strange that the strange creature we encountered in the camp earlier had never made such a sound, could it be that the thing outside wasn't that creature?

  Chow Sing-yuk also detected something unusual and furrowed his brow. Suddenly, he said to us: "Be careful, this is an old python."

  "My goodness!" This time I was a bit frightened, what if something bad happened underground, how could I run into this kind of thing?

  I once heard Uncle Liu say that in the deep mountains and old forests of the south, there is a giant python lurking in underground caves. This python can live for many years, its body is huge, and because it lives underground, it has been breaking through soil and rocks for years, making its scales as hard as steel plates. It's said that during the Vietnam War, soldiers digging trenches had dug up this thing before, extremely ferocious, swallowing two people as soon as it emerged, at first using machine guns to shoot, but bullets couldn't penetrate, in the end throwing a few hand grenades, only then was the old python taken care of.

  At this moment, let alone hand grenades, we don't even have a 54-style pistol. The old python outside is unknown how big it is, and the three of us may not be enough for its one meal. If it doesn't discover us, that's fine. Once it discovers us, where should we hide?

  Su Qin's face also turned pale, and she asked me: "What should we do now? I've heard that the creatures underground don't rely on their eyes to move around. Should we just keep hiding?"

  I said to Su Qin, "You're thinking beautifully, if the one outside is a female it's fine, but if it's a male it'll be troublesome. They say that male pythons are extremely lustful and sensitive to women, especially virgins. I think that old monster can smell your scent even through the coffin, we probably won't be able to escape."

  I was speaking seriously, but Su Qin thought I was being frivolous with her, and she scolded me, gritting her teeth and about to pinch me again. Just then, the sounds outside suddenly disappeared, and the tomb chamber fell silent in an instant. The three of us held our breath, and we all felt the hairs on the back of our necks standing up. All the bad premonitions were proving true - this was just the calm before the storm!

  Time seemed to have passed for a century, but it felt like only an instant had passed. Suddenly, I heard a strange cry of "hiss", and the copper coffin was hit by a strange force, shaking three times. We were shaken inside the coffin, feeling dizzy, seeing stars in our eyes, and hearing buzzing sounds in our ears, almost fainting.

  Soon, the strange force outside came crashing in continuously, the copper coffin kept making a loud noise, shaking more and more violently, we were shrinking inside with cold sweat all over our bodies, not daring to move at all, already filled with fear, afraid that if this continued, the copper coffin would fall off the stone pedestal, and the three of us would inevitably get hurt.

  Su Qin, although she was brave and skilled, was still a woman after all. At this moment, she had turned pale with fear and lost her composure. She asked me, "It's discovered us! What should we do now? Should we make a run for it?"

  I was also confused, but in front of the woman, I didn't want to lose my composure, so I panted heavily and unclearly told Su Qin: "Running out is definitely a dead end, it's better to hide here first and think of a solution. This bronze coffin weighs at least one ton, plus our three weights, it can't be opened for the time being."

  At this time, Zhou Xing suddenly said to me: "This old python is male, it smells Su Qin's scent and will rush in from the opening. Let's go out, I'll hold it back, you quickly escape from the entrance on the opposite side of the stone platform."

  The danger has reached its peak, and Zhou Xing's words have finally increased, but he says that he will not seek our consent at all. As soon as his voice fell, he had already "swished" out of the coffin.

  I was taken aback, my eyes wide with surprise, and before I could scold this kid for being undisciplined, the sudden impact from outside stopped abruptly, and an eerie silence fell over the darkness once again. In an instant, a massive black shadow swooped down from above the coffin, making a whooshing sound as it rushed towards Zhou Xing's direction.

  I and Su Qin saw the shadow flying past, startled, worried that Zhou Xing couldn't display in the dark, hurriedly climbed out of the coffin, opened the flashlight and shone forward.

  Under this gaze, it can be seen that not far in front of me, there is indeed a huge python coiled, its body covered with scales and armor, emitting a dark and gloomy light. Its head is very large and pointed, and the length of its body below its neck is unknown. At this moment, the ground has already sunk by one meter, it is coiled at the bottom and raises its head, its head is still higher than the stone platform.

  Zhou Xing suddenly jumped out of the coffin, attracting its attention. At this moment, it was arching its neck, staring straight at Zhou Xing who was leaning against the wall corner. In a flash, the black scales flashed, and the giant python moved. In the dim light, we only saw a black shadow shoot out, the speed of the python's head was as fast as a bullet shot from a gun, bringing with it a gust of foul wind that pounced on him.

  We wanted to lend a helping hand, but the reaction was too slow. Fortunately, Chow Sing's skills were truly impressive. Seeing the python head attacking, he didn't dodge or retreat, instead taking a few steps forward and almost colliding with the python head. But then, in an instant, his body flashed and he had already dodged to the side of the black-scaled old python, striking it with a backhand punch.

  There was only a dull thud, and the python's head was instantly knocked to one side by Zhou Xing. However, this move was no different from hitting a stone with an open palm. The black-scaled old python not only wasn't injured but was thoroughly enraged, its neck shrinking back, its head suddenly changing direction, and it rolled towards Zhou Xing again, faster than before.

  Chow Sing didn't expect this guy to be so vicious, and he was completely unprepared for the attack. In his panic, he only managed to block with his arm in front of his chest before being hit head-on by the black-scaled python. He let out a muffled groan, flew two meters back, fell to the ground, and rolled twice, narrowly avoiding a fatal blow.

  He really did, just now he should have already used his arm to unload most of the force, but after falling to the ground, he hastily got up and flew sideways to dodge the python's head-on impact.

  Then Zhou Xing saw that we were still stunned and suddenly became impatient, frowning and shouting: "Go!"

  I and Su Qin also had the intention to leave, but looking at the opposite side, we were stunned. It turned out that the previous mechanism still had a follow-up move, and it didn't leave us any room for survival, sealing off the exit on the opposite side as well. The entire tomb chamber was like an airtight stone box at this moment, even an iron mouse couldn't drill out. The ancient people set up such a situation in the tomb, obviously carefully designed to make those who survived under the stone cone engage in a desperate struggle with the python.

  Zhou Xing also discovered that there was no way out of the tomb, and even though he was calm, his face couldn't help but sink. The black-scaled python didn't give him a chance to breathe, making strange hissing calls as its head shot out non-stop. Zhou Xing didn't dare to fight back hard, relying on his agile movements to dodge and weave repeatedly, narrowly avoiding being hit by the python's head several times, and it was an extremely perilous situation.

  I saw that the black-scaled old python was already showing signs of madness, and I knew this guy would not give us a break. The situation would be a deadlock from now on. So I took out the only thing that could serve as a weapon from my body - an ice axe - and said to Su Qing: "Miss Su, you hide well on the stone platform, don't let the old python find you, it really has an interest in women, I'm not scaring you. Now Zhou Xing is fighting alone down there, I have to go help him."

  Su Qin bit her lower lip and nodded at me, saying: "You be careful."

  She had barely finished speaking when I jumped down, and somehow my courage seemed to have grown since then. I remembered the last time we excavated the Three-Eyed God's tomb, I was nervous just looking at the dark entrance, but after being exposed to the light from the third eye on the forehead of the Three-Eyed God, I seemed to have gained some more boldness. This time, trapped in a desperate situation, facing the enormous creature in front of me, I even felt a bit of fighting spirit, thinking that I could give it a try.

  The black-scaled python was still coiled on the ground, only its upper body striking Zhou Xing. I saw Zhou Xing exhausted from running around, surrounded by danger at every turn, and didn't have time to think much, so I shouted loudly and rushed forward, raising my ice axe to heavily strike the coiled snake's body.

  In the darkness, I only heard a loud crash coming from my hand, this sharp ice axe struck the old python's body, it was like striking a hard rock, shocking me so much that my tiger mouth split open. Suddenly I understood why this old python couldn't be killed even by machine gun fire, what kind of scales were on its body? It was basically an impenetrable armor.

  The black-scaled python discovered someone attacking it from behind, its anger intensified, and with a strange hiss, it swept out its long tail, like a whip, striking towards me. How could I dare to be slow? I quickly flipped over and retreated, but my speed was no match for it. Having only retreated two feet, the tip of its tail scraped against my thigh, and instantly, I felt a stinging pain on my thigh, like being pricked by needles. Lowering my head to look, I saw that the place where the tail had struck had already torn open a large gash in my pants, with blood flowing out profusely.

  When I saw the blood, I was furious. I thought to myself that this old monster is really formidable, and even if Zhou Xing and I joined forces, we might not be its match. Fortunately, Su Qin's previous words were correct - creatures like this one that have been dormant for many years will not live much longer after waking up, because their hearts are extremely weak and can only hold on for about ten minutes at most. Now that this black-scaled old python has woken up for a while, we don't need to achieve anything, but just try not to make mistakes and slowly exhaust it to death.

  I shouted to Zhou Xing: "Brother Zhou, this monster won't last much longer, let's hold on!"

  At this moment, I suddenly saw the giant python arch its neck, seemingly about to pounce on Zhou Xing again. I hastily circled around the python's body, planning to first rescue Zhou Xing, but unexpectedly this black-scaled old python was extremely cunning. Its python head appeared to be attacking Zhou Xing on the surface, but in reality it was intentionally creating an opening for me. As soon as I approached, I discovered that the giant python had suddenly turned its head and pounced towards me. It brought a gust of fishy wind with incredible speed, and before I could react in time, I saw a dark and ominous large mouth, exuding a chilling aura, already biting down at me!

  I knew I couldn't dodge to the side, so in a moment of desperation, I suddenly came up with an idea and leaned back, heavily falling to the ground. The python's head was still coming at me with great force, but its speed had slowed down by several degrees. I quickly picked up a stone from the ground and threw it at the snake, just managing to deflect this deadly attack, giving me a few seconds of reprieve to roll away.

  However, this giant python was indeed ferocious. It suddenly suffered my sneak attack and instantly let out a strange hiss. Its neck didn't even retract, and its snake head actually charged at me again.

  This time I was completely powerless to dodge, and was hit head-on by the python's head. For a moment, I only felt that my chest was struck by a thunderbolt, and my ribs cracked with a loud crack. Under the intense pain, my eyes turned black, and I couldn't exert any strength throughout my body.