The expression on *'s face remained filled with confusion, but I knew that someone who spent so much time in the wild must carry salt; it’s an essential item for wilderness survival.

As expected, * asked no further questions, retrieving a metal bottle from a side pocket of his backpack with lightning speed—it was indeed rock salt.

I snatched the salt from his hand without hesitation, and at that precise moment, a monster lunged at us from the air.

At the very nick of time, I uncorked the salt container and flung the contents toward the creature's face.

The monster, airborne and with nowhere to evade, let out a sharp, electric-shock-like squeal upon contact with the salt and tumbled to the ground.

froze for a moment, utterly unprepared for such an effect from common salt.

As the monster writhed on the ground, clutching its face and screaming wildly, the others were momentarily stunned into inaction.

Soon, within our visible range, the creature's face rapidly deflated, like a shriveled balloon.

Then, the green algae peeled away from its body like a receding tide, scurrying to the side.

Once completely stripped bare, we saw what it had encased: a corpse already beginning to rot, its features unrecognizable.

I considered throwing more salt to eliminate that green tide as well, but those things fled too quickly, vanishing into the darkness in an instant.

The monsters behind them immediately grew agitated and charged toward us.

I retreated while scattering salt, pushing back several of the creatures, but there were too many; the salt simply wasn't enough.

We backed all the way to the base of the cliff face; there was nowhere left to retreat.

Yet, a dozen or so monsters surrounded us, and worse, I watched the green tide that had detached from the corpse quickly slither along the ground, soon finding fresh bodies to re-infest, returning with renewed vigor.

was drenched in sweat, asking me, "What do we do now?"

My collar was also soaked, a wave of despair rising within me as I told *, "Where's the glorifying shell? Looks like we're about to become the Five Heroes of Langya Mountain. I have no intention of being turned into a walking dead thing by these freaks."

As I spoke, the monsters rapidly closed the circle around us, alarmingly close.

I shook the bottle in my hand; the salt was gone.

reacted with perfect timing, producing the glorifying shell and pulling the pin without hesitation.

"Five, four, three…" I counted down the fuse time. Though regret gnawed at me, it seemed there was no time left to do anything else.

Just as despair settled over us, a clear, ringing sound carried up from somewhere deep within the abyss.

The bell tone was clear and distant; if the surroundings hadn't been utterly silent, it would have been impossible to hear.

The sound chimed in rhythmic bursts, bringing a sliver of calm, yet also emanating a subtle enchantment. This is no ordinary bell, I thought.

Suddenly inspired, I snatched the * from *'s hand and hurled it toward one of the monsters.

Then I quickly pressed down on *’s shoulder, followed by a massive BOOM. The moment we crouched down, the * detonated.

My ears rang fiercely, and the intense shockwave slammed us to the ground.

In that moment, I saw several hideous monsters screeching and being flung away, followed by a cloud of dust filling the air.

After a long moment, we managed to stand up, but before us was nothing—only endless darkness stretching to the edge of the chasm.

After a moment of astonishment, we returned to the site of the * explosion. Using the light from *'s flashlight, we swept the area, and indeed, not a single monster remained.

looked around, remarking, "No time to study this; we need to get out of here quickly!"

We both remained silent, walking to the cliff face, tugging the dangling rope to confirm it was still secure, and then began climbing up toward the opening in the rock wall. I followed close behind, ascending slowly.

Reaching the mouth of the tunnel, I saw * hesitate.

He stared at me, paused for a moment, then pointed back toward his backpack, saying, "We still have enough gear and food for two or three days. This cavern is a decent shelter. If we venture further in, we might encounter greater danger."

I managed a wry smile and replied to *, "I hardly think this opening is safe. Rather than waiting here to die, we should press on and see what secrets are hidden deeper inside."

nodded, saying nothing more. He chambered a round in his rifle, held the tactical flashlight in his mouth, and proceeded into the depths of the cave, gun raised.

As I walked forward, I took in the structure of the cavern.

The passage walls were smooth, icy rock, typical basalt.

There were some rotten wooden supports and decayed shovels scattered along the tunnel, so decomposed they were nearly merged with the floor, emitting a sharp, musty odor.

Fortunately, the tunnel wasn't overly long. After walking for less than five minutes, we spotted a door covered in rust, leaning askew in a wooden frame.

signaled for me to wait in place, then he advanced cautiously with his weapon, giving the door a gentle push.

But who knew how old the door was; it had already rotted away from the frame. A slight touch caused a horrible, grinding CREAK, and it collapsed inward with a deafening crash.

Both * and I were startled, freezing in place.

In the darkness, there was a rustling sound, as if something had been disturbed by us.

After waiting quietly for some time, the rustling gradually faded, and * and I finally let out a breath, cautiously illuminating the way with our flashlights as we entered the underground stone room.

The first thing that caught our eye was a long, European-style table set squarely in the center of the room, with several tall metal filing cabinets lining the walls.

frowned, shifting the beam of his flashlight toward the objects resting on the table.

The table was littered with disorganized files and documents, but due to their age, the papers had rotted black, and even the mold spores on them had withered.

used his combat knife to lift a stack of blackened papers, but the moment they left the table, they disintegrated into dust.

Small black insects scattered frantically from beneath the paper, crawling down the table legs.

looked back at me, shook his head, indicating they were illegible.

I nodded, thinking that even if a few papers had survived, I couldn't read Russian anyway.

continued to sift through the pile on the table, while I moved to the cabinets along the wall to investigate.

The cabinets to the left and opposite were nearly empty, holding only a few scraps of waste paper in their drawers, some sketches of unrecognizable objects, and empty, moldy vodka bottles emitting a foul stench.

Only the two lower doors of the large metal cabinet to the right of the room were tightly locked, suggesting something important was stored within.

I drew the climbing axe I carried at my waist and spent a considerable amount of time prying the metal cabinet open. Inside, several leather-bound file folders were neatly stacked.

I picked up one of the leather bags and saw it marked with a number in red ink. The seals were intact, covered in wax, indicating these were likely highly classified documents.

Excitedly, I used my knife to cut through the waxy seal and poured out a stack of papers.

Unlike the documents describing flora we found outside, this stack, though also written in Russian, contained mostly architectural blueprints.

The structures depicted were unique, resembling small pyramids with only a single, circular entrance. Surrounding these buildings were dense forests whose lushness rivaled the Amazon rainforest in the Americas.

I picked up a document, stood up, and turned to *, saying, "Strange, these documents from the damn Russians describe a rainforest. Where could this forest be located?"

grunted without turning around.

Seeing him probing something in a corner of the room, I asked what was wrong, finding it peculiar.

He replied that he was just checking if the room had any other exits.

Taking him at his word, I returned to examining the files in the cabinet.

There were six file bags in total, with similar content in each—perhaps records of a miracle discovered in a rainforest, possibly remnants of the Mayan civilization.

I saw strange designs of masks and ceremonial staffs, all consistent with ancient civilizations.

Flipping to the last file bag, a metallic object suddenly dropped out, hitting the floor with a clink.