"So what is the meaning of this? Four Arabic numerals inscribed within a grand, ancient war mural—it's like dropping a piece of chocolate into Longjing tea, leaving one utterly speechless."

I pondered this, my curiosity urging me to explore further down the wall.

Driven by an intense inquisitiveness, my hands braced against the wall as I felt around, my center of gravity firmly leaning toward it.

What happened next was entirely unforeseen. As I probed the surface, the wall abruptly gave way before me, and with no preparation, I tumbled forward.

Before I could even register the shift, my head struck something solid with a loud thud, leaving me momentarily dizzy and disoriented.

My face scraped past this object as I fell, followed by a cascade of metallic clatter, clatter, ding-a-ling as something I’d knocked over crashed to the ground.

It had to be metal to make that sound, yet when I landed, the sensation beneath my hands was unexpectedly soft and yielding.

Falling onto something spongy in the total darkness was far more terrifying than hitting rock; it strongly suggested a corpse.

Instinct took over. I twisted rapidly, flipping onto my back on the floor.

I immediately reached up to touch my forehead. Though it throbbed slightly, the skin didn't appear to be broken.

Judging by the tactile sensation, I must have collided with something smooth. But that was secondary; my attention snapped back to the soft mass near my hip.

One touch, and half the warmth drained from my heart.

“This is indeed a dead person…” I murmured, then began tracing the fabric of his clothing. Clearly, he was dressed differently from me—I wore a white short-sleeved shirt, while he was clad in a padded cotton coat!

The torso beneath the garment had withered; perhaps only the skeleton remained.

If he were part of an expedition team, he wouldn't have been dead long enough for his body to be reduced to mere bones.

I reasoned this man was likely someone who had previously disappeared in the Black Bamboo Valley, wondering what had brought him to this ancient cavern.

My fingers continued to search over the body until they brushed against a square, hard object tucked inside the lining of his coat.

A small thrill shot through me—this could very well be a notebook, one that might contain details of interest to me. The cotton of his coat was already decaying, and I could tear it apart with minimal effort.

Soon, I pulled the square object free from the tattered wadding.

A brief examination confirmed it was a notebook, its pages remarkably well-preserved.

Curiosity flared. Although my lighter was out of fluid, this dry cotton batting would surely ignite; perhaps I could fashion a torch and read the contents.

Just as I fished the lighter from my pocket and gathered a clump of cotton batting, preparing to strike a spark, I heard a dull thump resonating from deep within the cavern.

I recoiled, nearly dropping the lighter. The sound was heavy, like a massive stone impacting the earth—the very sound the stone door had made when it opened.

I initially thought something was striking the stone door again, but then the sound echoed a second time.

“Thump…” This time, a cold sweat broke out across my skin.

This second sound seemed closer! Whatever it was, it must have been agitated by the loud noise I had just made, and it was heading my way…

“Oh, my God…” Veins began to pop visibly on my forehead. “What the hell is making that kind of noise when it moves?”

I nearly scrambled out of the recess in the wall, but a quick calculation made me think better of it; the outside might be even more perilous.

When people are afraid, they instinctively seek the tightest corner. I was no exception, pressing myself against the wall, trying to compress my body into the smallest possible shape.

“Thump!” Another dull impact, closer still. I felt a faint tremor beneath my feet, indicating the approaching entity was immensely heavy.

As the strange sound drew nearer, my heartbeat accelerated, solidifying my certainty that this thing was deliberately coming for me.

Ten meters… Five meters… Three meters…

I frantically gauged the distance, my breath growing shallow, feeling as though my heart was trying to burst from my chest.

“Thump…” The final, massive sound was practically beside my ear. My feet shifted involuntarily, my toes gripping the ground.

Despite the terror, I detected a subtle difference in this last impact: accompanying the thump was a faint, rustling tinkle—the sound of small metal objects colliding. Clearly, it was adorned with tiny metallic attachments.

With that final crash, I sensed the thing had stopped not far ahead. I felt the presence of huge eyes in the darkness fixed directly upon me—an intensely unsettling sensation.

Then came the wet, grating sounds: “Pfft-ss… pfft-ss.” It was an agonizingly abrasive form of breathing.

It was abrasive only because the surroundings were so utterly silent; this bovine exhalation was piercingly distinct.

I could actually feel gusts of fetid, hot breath washing over my face, sending a spike of icy dread down my spine!

I was certain this creature possessed eyes, likely enormous ones, but the cave was pitch black, so they reflected no light. Seconds dragged by, my nerves stretched to the breaking point, yet all that persisted was that grating respiration.

An audacious idea sparked in my mind, one that made me grip my hands tightly, causing beads of fine sweat to prickle my forehead.

After a moment of intense deliberation, I slowly brought my hands together and ignited the lighter…

Click! The lighter flared, suddenly illuminating the immediate area.

But what sprang into view was an image forever seared into my memory…

I saw a face, stark white as parchment, barely ten centimeters from my own. Its eyes were wide open, bloodshot, the eyeballs fixed and glazed, staring intensely at me.

The strangest feature was its neck; it was somehow threaded through the narrow gap from outside. Its body was clearly too large to fit, so it could only push its neck through.

Seeing this sight, I gasped, nearly passing out from sheer terror.

At that instant, a sound—“Hoo!”—erupted from directly behind me. A cool draft swept past my ear, followed by the extinguishing of the lighter’s flame. A strong hand seized my shoulder and yanked me backward, dragging me a good two or three meters.

I had been certain my back was against the solid wall with no room to retreat, so the sudden movement left me completely stunned.

Before I could recover, I heard a shriek from the monstrous thing outside, followed by a rushing sound of air—it seemed to lunge toward me.

“Crack!”

Suddenly, a deafening blast sounded by my ear, and a tongue of fire illuminated the surroundings, shooting directly toward the grotesque face. Someone behind me had just fired a shot.

The bullet struck the monster’s face, forcing it to recoil instantly.

The muzzle flash was brief, and the report left my ears ringing incessantly. Before I could process it, everything went dark again.

Then I heard a sharp clang of metal, as if an iron door was being slammed shut.

Immediately following that, another heavy clang echoed from outside, the sound of something violently impacting the metal.

The person who had dragged me pulled me further back, another two or three meters, before releasing my shoulder.

Though a few more thuds resonated from outside, I could clearly feel that whatever it was, it was now much farther away.

I let out a soft breath, wiping the cold sweat from my brow, thinking how close I had come to death.

“Are you trying to die? That thing goes berserk the moment it sees light!” A voice cut through the silence, laced with distinct reproach.

Hearing that person curse me, however, felt more comforting than any gentle words; tears nearly sprang to my eyes, I was so overwhelmingly relieved.

There were other living people here after all!…

After berating me, the person fell silent, seemingly sitting down opposite me, rustling and feeling around for something.

I was about to ask who he was, but the moment I opened my mouth, a tremendous CLANG from outside vibrated painfully against my eardrums.