Hearing the tremor in *'s voice, those of us still clinging to the ropes scrambled down in a hurry. After exerting immense effort, we finally set foot on solid ground when, suddenly, an ear-splitting "screech" echoed from overhead, followed by a colossal object hurtling down with an irresistible, chilling momentum.

The thing whipped past us through the darkness at breakneck speed, seemingly skimming the very surface of the ground. Had we still been hanging on the ropes, even if not pulverized, we would have been swept away by the violent airflow.

Beams from several flashlights snagged a rough outline, and then we were all stunned, nearly everyone’s jaw dropping in terror.

What descended was no monster, but a giant diesel excavator—the heavy machinery the Soviets had used to dig this massive shaft so long ago.

And I vaguely glimpsed what looked like a figure seated inside the excavator’s cab!

A chill ran down my spine. This was too bizarre; had someone deliberately driven the machine down?

*’s face was ashen. After a moment, he cursed, “Damn it! This storm is insane; that excavator must weigh dozens of tons!”

Worried about Old Ni’s safety, I looked up. The flashlight beam had vanished, but the road surface above seemed undamaged, so he should be fine.

After watching for a few seconds, a dull thud echoed from the abyss beneath our feet. It was too distant to be clear, but I guessed it was the excavator hitting the bottom of the shaft. Evidently, this hole didn’t lead straight to hell; at least there was a floor.

As I pondered this, the bright spot overhead reappeared—Old Ni was wildly waving his flashlight. I thought, not again, is another excavator about to fall? That would be disastrous.

So I shouted upwards, “Don’t stand too close to the edge! We know, we’ll be careful!”

I didn't know if Old Ni heard me, but his flashlight beam swung even more violently than the first time. I had a sinking feeling that this wasn't about something falling; it felt like something far more dangerous was afoot.

Just then, someone yelled, “Look down there! What is that?”

I rushed to the cliff edge and peered down. I saw two orbs of light—one red, one yellow—igniting about seven or eight hundred meters below us. They were clearly signal flares.

*saw them too and said, “Someone down there is signaling us. It might be Da Xiong and the others.”

The thought of reuniting with Da Xiong’s group immediately energized us, and we quickened our pace deeper into the cavern.

I figured Da Xiong’s group must have found some other space down below; otherwise, there’s no way they could have survived down here this long.

We moved quickly downward, constantly checking overhead to ensure nothing else was falling. Despite our anxiety, it seemed no more large objects were dropping from above.

Just as I let out a breath of relief, a strange "poof" sound erupted in the dark cavern, not far behind us.

Everyone heard the distinct, strange noise and froze instantly.

Several flashlight beams swept back and forth over the path we had just run, searching for anything unusual, but found nothing amiss.

Yet, my inner guard never dropped; I scanned the surroundings, watching for any movement.

Soon, another clear "poof" sounded not far ahead of us. I thought I saw a dark shadow flicker, darting quickly past in front.

“Could it be those giant lizards from before?” I wondered, but then dismissed the thought; those lizards could never move with such agility.

At that moment, someone gasped, “Oh no! Little Stubby Zhang was just with me, but now he seems to be gone!”

We quickly took a headcount. Someone was missing!

Cold sweat instantly beaded on my forehead. A living person, without any struggle or cry, had vanished inexplicably. What in the world was happening?

Everyone tensed, chambering rounds in their weapons, clustering together, sweeping the darkness around us.

*paused for a few seconds, then asked the young man next to him, “When he disappeared from beside you just now, did you see anything?”

The young man’s face was pale, his grip tight on his pistol. He turned back and stammered, “I didn’t feel anything either, just a gust of…”

Before he could finish his sentence, a distinct poof sound hissed past my ear, and the young man speaking in front of all of us vanished into thin air!

Everyone froze, speechless with shock.

I cursed internally, Damn that devil’s weeping—it’s finally caught up to us!

In the emergency, *bellowed, “Ropes! Quickly, everyone get your ropes out and tie yourselves together!”

The realization hit everyone. They scrambled for the ropes in their packs, binding everyone together with the utmost speed, securing the knots tight.

Then *shouted again, “Lights! Turn on every light source we have!”

Everyone obeyed immediately, igniting miner’s lamps, windproof lighters, flashlights, searchlights, even candles and glow sticks.

In an instant, everything around us was brilliantly illuminated, as clear as day.

Once this was done, everyone huddled together, more than a dozen pairs of eyes fixed on every direction of the cavern, leaving no blind spots.

If anything strange appeared, it would certainly be riddled with holes from the dozens of pistols aimed at it.

Perhaps affected by the sudden flood of light, the strange poof sound did not repeat. We all held our breath, only hearing the distant, mournful howl of the wind from high above.

Just as everyone assumed the bizarre phenomenon had passed, a "poof" suddenly erupted from within the huddled group, and the rope around our waists tugged sharply.

Then someone screamed, “Someone was eaten by the wall!”

Even after experiencing so many inexplicable things, what I witnessed before me still defied all logic.

A section of the rope tied to our waists had, at some point, stretched straight into the stone wall. The end of that rope should have been attached to a living, breathing person, but now it had been swallowed whole by the solid rock face.

Though utterly bewildered, saving a life was the priority. Several strong men grabbed the rope and pulled with all their might, but even with Herculean effort, they couldn't budge it.

Fearing they might injure the person inside the wall, they stopped pulling. They aimed their searchlights closely at the wall, looking for any mechanism.

Under the harsh beam of light, I quickly spotted what was unusual: a patch of the wall was distinctly different in color from the rest, possessing a very deep cyan hue, as if covered in thick moss.

Though the strangeness of this wall was evident, nobody dared to reach out and touch it.

After a moment of deliberation, *suggested blasting the section of wall open with explosives.

However, just as the team prepared the charges, the rope around our waists was violently yanked again, and the patch of green wall actually began to move.

That section of greenish tide slid rapidly to one side with immense force, causing all of us to stagger.

*yelled and gripped the rope with desperate strength, bracing his body against the tremendous pull.

Seeing this, I followed suit. Though I was a stranger to these people, a human life was at stake; we couldn't just abandon them.

But the effort didn't last long. I heard a sharp snap near my ear—the rope had been brutally torn apart by the sheer force.

*bellowed a curse, whipped out the pistol at his hip, and fired two rapid shots toward the direction where the green tide had moved.

The crisp gunfire echoed through the cavern, but moments later, we could no longer locate the green mass.

*ordered everyone to step away from the wall and forbade any reckless action.

We stood near the edge of the abyss, bathed in bright light, but every face was etched with profound unease.

“*, have you ever seen this thing before? What the hell is this?” I asked, frowning deeply.

*shook his head and sighed, “No…”

“Creak… creak…”