Chapter 143: An Unexpected Gain

With no room left to retreat, I was frantically trying to think of a countermeasure. Fortunately, most of us were desperate men who had stared death in the face, so panic did not take hold. Guo Fan and Zhang Feng were the boldest of the lot; they instantly drew their firearms. I initially thought of taking out the gasoline, but then I realized how foolish that would be—if we ignited it in this poorly ventilated space, wouldn't we just suffocate from the smoke?

Still, I pulled out a few grenades. I wasn't planning on using them against the snakes, but if we truly couldn't hold them off, I would rather pull the pin myself than be bitten to death by a horde of serpents in this place. Such a death would be far too wretched. While I had long since grown indifferent to the boundary between life and death, I had no desire to perish in such a gruesome manner.

Before long, the rustling sound grew much louder. Zhang Feng had the sharpest eyes, and his first shot rang out instantly. I saw a small snake blasted into the air, and immediately after, more snakes began to swarm forward. The gunfire steadily intensified. Among our group of six, aside from San Piangua who didn't know how to shoot, everyone else began continuously pulling the triggers into the darkness ahead. In the narrow cavern, deafening gunshots echoed wildly.

Our ammunition and firepower were just barely sufficient, turning the dark space ahead into a storm of flying lead. Countless small snakes were mowed down and sent flying, creating absolute chaos. After a round of heavy firing, the number of snakes seemed to dwindle, leaving only a few scattered ones still charging forward. However, they were picked off one by one by the accurate marksmanship of Zhang Feng and Guo Fan.

Quiet returned to the cavern, and everyone hurriedly began reloading. No sooner had we finished than we heard an even louder rustling sound, seemingly signaling a wave of snakes even larger than the previous one.

"We can't go on like this; we need to figure something out fast!" Guo Fan declared, raising his Type 82 submachine gun and fixing his gaze firmly ahead.

Guo Fan made a valid point. If things continued this way, there was no telling how massive the snake swarm actually was. If they came in endless waves, how could we possibly fight them all off? Heaven knew how many of these small snakes existed in this cave. If this truly was a snake nest teeming with countless serpents, our ammunition and supplies would eventually run out. We had to find a way out early.

Yet there were no paths around us. We had no time now to investigate this bizarre dead end. Perhaps we had simply failed to notice a fork in the tunnel, and in our panic earlier, we had taken a wrong turn, leading us straight into this trap. But this was no time for dwelling on mistakes; finding another way to evacuate this place was our utmost priority.

I had to hand it to San Piangua; he was quite resourceful. Though he couldn't use a gun, he found a task for himself, picking up a military entrenching tool and hacking frantically at the ground, attempting to dig an escape tunnel on the spot.

It was entirely possible that we had truly poked a hornet's nest of serpents. This wave of black snakes was even denser than before. Once again, a fierce barrage of gunfire erupted, and out of sheer necessity, we finally resorted to the gasoline, starting a fire that filled the cavern with billowing smoke. Yet, I noticed one detail: there seemed to be some ventilation here. Although the smoke was thick, it was gradually thinning out.

At that moment, Zhang Feng showed the most decisive action, pulling out a small pouch filled with high explosives. With practiced ease, he retrieved a portion of it and told us he intended to use the explosives to blast a hole through the wall. According to San Piangua's earlier probing with the shovel, the earth layer in one particular spot was extremely thin and seemed breachable. However, using a shovel would take far too much effort, and time was a luxury we did not possess.

Zhang Feng was a master of explosives and could expertly control the blast radius. After taking a brief look, Guo Fan told me that while he didn't know much about explosives himself, he could tell that Zhang Feng was a seasoned professional in that lethal trade.

Soon, Zhang Feng had the explosives prepared, and we all ducked into a corner. Just as that ominous rustling sound closed in once more, a deafening explosion shook the air. I felt the entire surroundings blur, and the place we stood shook as if struck by an earthquake. Yet this sensation lasted only for a split second. As the dust quickly settled, the spot Zhang Feng had targeted indeed revealed a jagged opening, and we hurriedly swarmed through it.

Upon entering, we were shocked to discover that this was no natural cave at all, but an underground structure. The area where we emerged resembled a small chamber; ahead of us stood a wall built from ancient-looking cyan bricks, flanked by short tunnels at either end.

However, this was no time for contemplation. With the endless swarm of black snakes still lingering behind us, we hurried along the tunnel, running at a fast pace for about ten minutes until we reached a corner. There, we found that the wall resembled a perimeter barrier, standing about three meters high. I couldn't help but wonder: could this possibly be an ancient tomb?

With that thought in mind, I decided we had to go inside and investigate. Yet this cyan brick wall was impossible to dig through by hand; we would have to resort to explosives once again.

Zhang Feng's skill in preparing explosives was top-notch. With swift and decisive movements, he finished setting them up in no time. Guo Fan stepped forward to help position the charges, and we all retreated to a safe distance. With another thunderous blast, the cyan brick wall was shattered, revealing a clean breach. From this single opening alone, it was evident that Zhang Feng's mastery over explosives had reached perfection, perfectly gauging the exact force needed for the blast.

Peering through the newly blasted opening and sweeping it with my flashlight, a surge of joy washed over me. It seemed my guess was entirely correct: this was indeed an ancient tomb, and an extraordinarily large one at that. Li Ling's disappearance was undoubtedly connected to this place, and the Southern Gate faction's objective must have been right here as well. Whether this place had any ties to the ancient State of Li remained to be verified, but I had a lingering intuition that a profound connection bound this tomb to the ancient kingdom. Perhaps we would stumble upon unexpected discoveries this time around.

Glancing back at the path we had just fled, the rustling sound of the snake swarm could no longer be heard. There was no telling whether those black snakes would pursue us, but we had no leisure to worry about that now. With a wave of my hand, I signaled everyone to enter the ancient tomb. The others were mostly unbothered—either reckless, hardened outlaws or veteran grave-robbers—save for San Piangua, who looked visibly terrified. Understandably, many mountain foragers and rural folk harbored deep taboos against places like ancient tombs and dared not set foot inside.

Yet, terrified as he was, San Piangua dared not remain behind alone. In the end, he could only grit his teeth and follow us in. The tomb walls built of cyan bricks looked immensely historic, though what struck me as odd was that the mortar joints between the bricks were completely devoid of any mechanical traps or defense mechanisms.