Then a strange, guttural sound escaped his throat, and his entire face began to turn green.

It was the first time I had witnessed the signs of such poisoning—a look of raw, visceral agony and terror that sent a shudder straight through me.

I only hesitated for a breath before the Ku Long swarmed up to my ankles; several immediately burrowed into my trouser legs and began to climb!

You can imagine the sensation: that cold, damp, bumpy skin pressed tight against the warmth of your leg—just thinking about it raised gooseflesh, let alone experiencing it firsthand. I was utterly nauseated and quickly stamped my feet twice, not caring if I shook off the Ku Long, and spun around to flee. But suddenly, a dry, withered hand shot out from the darkness and gripped my arm tightly. Though skeletal, the hand possessed immense strength;

its nails dug deep into my flesh, causing me such pain I nearly screamed aloud.

I twisted my head around and saw Old Huang, his mouth agape like an evil specter, pointing to his own throat and emitting that strange, hissing noise. Three bloody gashes marred his face, deep enough to reveal bone, weeping black blood—scratches he had inflicted upon himself.

Though Old Huang had always been kind to me, and only moments ago a man joking with me, seeing him transformed like this sent a sharp pang through my heart. But in this predicament, I was beyond saving myself, so I wrenched my hand back, grabbed his arm, and started to pull him away.

But for some reason, Old Huang wouldn't budge, emitting those strange, hissing cries; with my strength, I couldn't move him an inch! At that moment, a chill swept down the back of my neck—the torrent of Ku Long had reached my spine. Panic seized me, and I tried to open my mouth to tell him to come with me. But I immediately remembered that opening my mouth meant certain death, so I struggled to pull free of his grip.

Then the unexpected happened: Old Huang rolled his eyes back, suddenly yanked me toward him, and prepared to bite my face. I was nearly terrified out of my wits;

I frantically released the hand covering my mouth and jammed my thumb and forefinger into his maw. It was the very thing I dreaded! I was so strung out, on the verge of collapse, sweat pouring down me like rain. The moment my hand shifted, several Ku Long shot from my shoulder toward my mouth. I slammed my jaws shut, gritting my teeth fiercely.

Though the insects didn't fly directly into my mouth, they latched onto my face, squirming toward the center of my lips like frantic eels, as if mad. I felt wetness between my lips and a stench of rot filling my nose—an overwhelming nausea. But I couldn't afford to gag; a searing pain shot through my grip as Old Huang sank his teeth hard into my hand. Every nerve in my body jumped with the agony, but I forced myself not to let go. Blood immediately streamed down my thumb and forefinger, dyeing one of my arms red. One hand locked by Old Huang, the other trying to pin his jaw, and things squirming to force their way between my lips—if I stayed there, I faced at least three ways to die. First, being bitten to death by the deranged Old Huang; second, being smothered alive beneath countless Ku Long; third, being poisoned to death by Ku Long crawling into my mouth. None of those sounded pleasant. Faced with such chaos, my mind went blank; I knew, absolutely, that this was the end for me! Involuntarily, I glanced back toward the passage I had come from. Many who had run faster had already reached that end. But just then, a shrill, piercing shriek echoed from the depths of the tunnel. The people inside quickly scrambled back, their faces ashen, many of them soaking their trousers. Then I heard a strange, high-pitched chirping sound rising from the passage’s depths. I knew something terrifying was coming again!

I thought my current situation was the absolute pinnacle of crisis, yet new developments were still emerging. Looking back now, if I hadn't already endured so many bizarre things, hardening my nerves considerably, I likely would have simply died of fright then.

Under normal circumstances, I would have been drawn by whatever emerged from that passage, but the most immediate danger was right in front of me; I had no time to worry about anything else. I was not as strong as Old Huang, and now that he was frenzied, with his arms flailing, he lunged forward, tackling me to the ground, and began to bite wildly.

I managed to dodge a couple of times initially, but my body was quickly covered in the clammy, cold Ku Long. Thousands of them pressed down on us both, rapidly suffocating us.

But Old Huang clearly wasn't done; finally, he managed to clamp his jaws onto my shoulder with savage force.

The pain made my eyes roll back, nearly forcing a cry from me, but I clenched my teeth and held it in, my scalp stretched taut, ready to split.

His biting wasn't enough; he raised both hands again, claws like a hawk’s talons, reaching for my face. I recoiled in fright, twisting my head aside. Still, I felt a sharp sting across my neck—he had definitely raked several bloody scores there.

I gasped, the pain nearly making me pass out, but then another, far more terrifying sight seized my attention. As I turned my head, I saw a person the color of raw flesh burst out of the passage.

Upon closer inspection, it wasn't his skin that was flesh-white, but the man was completely draped in pale, fleshy-white insects! Those insects were none other than the highly venomous Cave Stinging Wasps we had seen before! As the man charged out of the tunnel and crashed heavily onto the ground, a massive swarm of those flesh-white insects exploded out behind him, rushing forth like maniacs. "Oh God..."

Tears streamed down my face, and I finally surrendered, fainting dead away.

A deep, vague darkness enveloped my vision. The pain in my body seemed to vanish, replaced by a floating, deeply comfortable sensation. I was so utterly exhausted. The sleep I'd managed in the mountain mine had been two days ago, and even that had been fitful, half-awake at best.

I desperately wanted to drift off like this, to sleep until the end of time. But a sudden fear pricked my heart—was I asleep, or was I dead?

Panic began to set in, an intense inner struggle, until... Until I felt the throbbing pain in my shoulder, the ache in my neck, and a profound soreness throughout my entire body.

I snapped my eyes open, and all sensation rushed back in. When I opened my eyes, I expected to see something, but before me was only darkness, an absolute void, like an endless night, devoid of even sound.

Recalling everything before I passed out sent chills down my spine; I could still feel the cold sweat clinging to my forehead. I had secretly hoped that when I awoke, the sun would be blazing, I'd be lying in an inn, and Daxiong would be beside me, gnawing on a chicken leg, telling me it had all been a nightmare.

But when I smelled the dampness in my nostrils again, I realized I was still in that bizarre cave. The oppressive atmosphere made me want to scream out loud, but I restrained myself. I managed a bitter laugh and muttered to myself,

"At least I'm not dead yet." I could feel a sheet of cold, rough stone pressed uncomfortably against my back, so I tried to sit up. But the moment I moved, a searing pain shot through me, as if my bones had been scattered.

It took immense effort to sit up, and then I peered into the gloom. But all I could see was darkness, and more darkness. Until now, at least Daxiong had been by my side. Being utterly alone in this impossibly strange cavern, a nameless terror finally gripped me. I opened my mouth to call out,

but immediately froze. Because the instant I parted my lips, a distinct "Gua" of a frog croak sounded not far away. Recalling the horrifying Ku Long, I immediately clamped my mouth shut. I quieted my breath and listened carefully, realizing the surroundings weren't truly silent, but filled with low, pervasive frog croaks coming from all directions—sounds that made the skin crawl. I frowned slightly and used my hands to brace myself, trying to stand. But the moment my hand touched the ground, it brushed against something cold,

and I instinctively snatched it back. Because that cold object was clearly not stone; it possessed a certain degree of softness. Though I desperately resisted the thought, I swallowed hard, as the texture felt disturbingly similar to a corpse.