Once they stopped, Matias was beaten to a pulp, his face unrecognizable. The group glared at him, muttering in the bird language I couldn't understand—German—but it was clear they were waiting for Matias to recover before attacking again.

Old Li and I were utterly bewildered. Matias stood there, trembling, waiting for the group to erupt again. He thought about fleeing, his legs shaking, but after assessing his own strength, he didn't dare run.

There were only four of them in total. If Matias had made a decisive move and allied with us, perhaps they could have gained the upper hand. Of course, this was before I saw how ferocious they truly were. When they started pulling various weapons from their backpacks, we immediately found ourselves sharing Matias's paralyzed state, not daring to even think of escape.

The situation unfolded like this: one of the tall, bearded Germans sternly questioned Matias in German. Matias glanced timidly towards us. Without waiting for a reply, the bearded man barraged him with a torrent of rapid-fire questions. Matias still dared not speak, only darting his eyes at us.

Old Li and I were lost and helpless, exchanging bewildered looks in silence.

Then, Matias stumbled over, his center of gravity clearly compromised. "Luo Lian, Li Zeng... Hans demands you hand over the map," he said, pointing at the tall German.

"The map?" My heart lurched. They wanted the map? We knew nothing about this place, which meant...

"Impossible!" Old Li and I snapped in unison.

Matias’s face was etched with fear. "Just give it to them... save yourselves the trouble. Did you see me? They went easy on me—as easy as they possibly could. Do you really think people under the Führer would be merciful?"

Old Li and I weren't the type to be intimidated, especially since we weren't exactly weaklings. We exchanged a knowing, cold smile and remained silent.

Matias, naturally aware of our temperaments, said no more. He turned back and muttered something to the others. The bearded Hans listened, looked at us expressionlessly, waved his hand, and started walking forward.

Matias looked back and called out, "If you’re not coming, do you plan to wait here to die?" As he spoke, the Germans paused, seemingly waiting for us.

"Let's go..." Old Li murmured. "If we don't follow them, we’ll die faster." I realized there seemed to be no other choice, so we followed.

The Germans were incredibly calculating; they wouldn't turn on their lights if we were using ours, conserving every possible resource. The cave was dim and hazy, yet they walked on resolutely, unfazed.

Indeed, we didn't encounter anything strange or terrifying. After a period of high alert, seeing no anomalies, I relaxed slightly. Old Li didn't share my relief. He whispered a warning, "Technician Luo, be careful. The map mentioned a spot on the first level that leads directly to the second. Be extremely cautious."

Hearing our low murmurs, the bearded Hans turned to glance at us again, still saying nothing, before continuing forward.

For some reason, I still felt it was unsafe to follow the Germans—dangerously unsafe. How could they let Matias try a couple of words, and then just give up immediately if we refused? That was impossible; anyone wouldn't let us off so easily.

So, I deliberately lagged a couple of steps behind Old Li and whispered to him about getting away. Old Li pondered for a moment. "How about we enter the second level first, and then try to shake them off there?" He added with a touch of uncertainty, "But... just the two of us, it doesn't feel very secure..."

I had no solid plan either, but the Germans certainly didn't strike me as benign. Who knew what they were plotting? I loathed this feeling of being the fish on the chopping block, preferring to be killed by a monster than stay with these men.

Old Li knew my stubborn nature and dropped the idea of sticking with the Germans. He thought for a moment, quietly pulled out a compass to take a bearing, and then lowered his voice to me. "A little further ahead, there's a hole. I have a way to open it directly. When the chance comes, we make our move."

I nodded in understanding. Then Old Li took my hand, and we continued following Matias and the others as if nothing was amiss.

Matias, beaten half to death, struggled to keep pace, gradually falling behind. Seeing Old Li and me catch up, he whispered urgently, "Let's sneak away quietly. These are beasts, not men. Don't think just because they haven't done anything to you yet, they aren't plotting more vicious means! You haven't seen their methods..."

As he spoke, a short, slender German with curly, light-blonde hair turned back, sneering. "Are you inciting these two to run?" His Chinese wasn't perfect, but it startled us enough to freeze. I had assumed none of them, aside from Matias, spoke Chinese.

Matias quickly bowed his head submissively. "Liske, no, no... I wouldn't dare..." He continued speaking Chinese, for what reason I couldn't fathom, choosing not to use German.

The small Liske sneered again, "A traitor who only knows how to run wouldn't dare." Still in Chinese.

Now I understood. Liske was warning us not to act rashly because he understood Chinese, and another implication was to not be naive enough to think Matias was truly on our side—he was a traitor who would abandon his own comrades. Any thought of alliance should be abandoned immediately; cooperating cheerfully was the only sensible path.

I trusted none of the Germans, so when Liske said those things, I ignored him completely, continuing forward with a blank expression.

Old Li tugged my sleeve, signaling to put some distance between us and them. I knew he must have found the entrance to the second level, so I deliberately slowed my pace subtly. The Germans ahead walked a few steps, then inexplicably slowed down too.

In less time than it takes to speak, before I could even see exactly what Old Li did, a hole suddenly appeared at my feet. Without hesitation, he pulled me down and we jumped. In less than half a second, I felt something snare my legs. Opening my eyes, I found myself on the ground. Panicked, I frantically reached down to yank at the silken threads that had caught me. Old Li, who wasn't ensnared, quickly came to help.

The thread was incredibly tough, cold and translucent in my grip, and wouldn't break. After several futile tugs, the Germans above were already crowding the edge of the hole, about to jump down after us. Desperate, I kicked wildly, and Old Li pulled along. In the chaos, I actually tore the threads loose.

With no time to catch our breath, Old Li and I scrambled up and ran forward wildly.

A moment later, we heard heavy thudding sounds from behind—the Germans must have jumped down too. Just as I was about to mention this to Old Li, a piercing, heart-wrenching scream echoed, sending goosebumps shooting across my body. I looked back and saw one of the Germans lying where we had jumped from, writhing and struggling. He was wrapped in dozens of the same silken threads that had caught my legs, and a massive, white, cocoon-like thing was slowly crawling towards him. In an instant, the originally white threads turned bright crimson. The German's sharp, high-pitched cry lowered into a moan of near-despair, followed by a few convulsions, and then he was still. The entire ordeal lasted perhaps four or five minutes.

Everyone stood frozen. I was pale with terror; if I hadn't run quickly, I would have shared the same fate.

"Technician Luo, run now!" Old Li snapped back to reality first, then bolted. I dared not delay, following closely behind.

The screams and gunshots from the Germans behind us rose and fell, punctuated by more cries, creating a chilling cacophony.

Old Li and I fled blindly, paying no attention to our surroundings. In my panic, I suddenly felt a cool, net-like substance cover my face, and then my whole body felt stuck to something. Looking down, I realized I had crashed straight into a giant, white spider web!

"We're done for!" Old Li’s voice reached me. I tried to turn my head, but my face felt glued in place as if by superglue, completely immobile. At this point, all courage left me; it was exactly like a moth hitting a web, waiting for the spider to arrive! If the Germans managed to catch up and shoot us too...

I felt a chill spread from my heart outward, my limbs immediately turning ice-cold, and a cold sweat broke out on my back.

"Old... Old Li..." I stammered, trying to find some source of comfort.

But Old Li wasn't faring much better. He trembled, "A cocoon... is coming... what... what... do we... do?"

I stared ahead and saw it: a white cocoon was indeed moving slowly, trailing silk onto the web that held us fast, as it "walked" closer.

My legs felt like jelly. If the web hadn't glued me in place, I probably would have melted into a puddle of fear. "Steady, steady, we can't be afraid now, can't lose our nerve, we must find a way to escape..." I kept cheering myself on internally, but my limbs refused to obey.

As the cocoon drew nearer, I broke out in a cold sweat, completely out of ideas. At this critical moment, Old Li regained his composure first. He spoke with as much stability as he could muster: "Technician Luo, don't be afraid. Steady... use fire."

Then I heard the click of a lighter, followed by an indescribable, acrid smell hitting my nostrils. Immediately, the sticky web on my body lost its adhesion. I struggled slightly and easily slipped free. I didn't have time to ask Old Li how he thought of that solution—the cocoon was almost upon us. Old Li shouted a warning and bolted.

My scalp prickled. I was a step too slow, and the cocoon suddenly spat out several strands, whipping towards me!