Chapter 242: Crawling Through the Crevice
The cold, pale light emitted by the glow stone was limited, illuminating only a two-to-three-meter radius ahead. On both sides of the tunnel were rough, loose shale layers. Water droplets continuously seeped from the crevices in the rock, falling with a rhythmic drip, drip onto the muddy ground. Mixed with the distinct sickly-sweet stench of spores, breathing in the air made one's head feel heavy. The squad advanced at an extremely slow pace. No one spoke; only the faint sounds of shoe soles crushing gravel and wading through muddy water echoed back and forth in the confined space.
Lin Yan walked in the middle of the formation, deliberately keeping his center of gravity low with every step. The wounds beneath his bandages sent continuous dull pain with the swaying of his body. The deepest gash on his waist felt as if an invisible hand was repeatedly pulling at it. Although his internal bleeding was temporarily stabilized, any slightly larger movement would send tearing agony shooting up his spine. Within his Sea of Consciousness, the whispers of the spores were much clearer than in the shelter pod. They were no longer vague illusions, but fragmented, gentle persuasions, repeatedly telling him to stop, to lean against the rock wall and rest, to sleep so he would no longer have to endure the pain.
He bit down hard on his tongue, using the continuous pain to anchor his mind. Simultaneously, he slowly circulated the ancient martial arts technique of concealing his breath, gathering his scattered Sea of Consciousness bit by bit. This technique was incredibly taxing at this moment. Every minor cycle of energy circulation consumed a massive amount of mental power. Soon, his forehead was covered in cold sweat, dripping from his jaw onto his lapel, mingling with the dried bloodstains.
The military police officer at the very front was the scout. He held the glow stone in one hand and gripped a short blade horizontally in the other, his gaze constantly sweeping over the crevices in the rock walls and the loose stones above. Trained in tunnel warfare, he knew how to distinguish rock fractures. From time to time, he would raise a hand to signal the squad to stop, tilting his head to listen to the sounds coming from the depths.
"The collapsed area is just ahead," the scout whispered, his voice pressed as low as possible for fear that sound waves might vibrate the loose gravel and trigger a secondary cave-in.
Everyone stopped.借着 (taking advantage of) the glow stone's light, they peered forward. The passage ahead was completely blocked by massive chunks of shattered shale. Layers of rocks were piled into a sloping embankment, with only a narrow, elongated gap less than half a meter high left at the top, leading pitch-black into the depths of the tunnel. The rocks at the edges of the gap were wet, coated with a layer of slick, dark cyan mucus—the exact traces left by the worms discovered during the previous reconnaissance. The mucus extended deep into the narrow gap, growing denser the further in it went.
The miner stepped forward, squinting to carefully examine the structure of the rock pile. He gently touched a half-suspended rock; it wobbled slightly, sending down a handful of fine sand.
"The stress in the rock layer is unstable. Several stones above are hanging loose. If someone forcefully bumps into them inside the gap, or if the noise is too loud, it could easily collapse and seal the crevice shut," the miner assessed in a low voice. "Moreover, this layer of mucus indicates the worms are inside the gap, and there won't be few of them. They usually hide in the crevices of the rubble, but they will swarm out collectively once they sense vibrations and the body heat of living humans."
The female support soldier gripped her short dagger tightly, her eyes fixed on the pitch-black crevice. "Can we bypass it?"
The miner slowly shook his head. "The rock walls on both sides are solid bedrock. There are no side passages. This flood discharge tunnel has only this single path here. If we want to continue forward, we have to crawl through this gap."
All eyes instinctively fell on Lin Yan. He took a deep breath, forcing his dizzy Sea of Consciousness to calm down, and carefully sensed the psychic fluctuations drifting from the direction of the gap. The spore concentration spiked sharply at the entrance of the gap, but there was no resonance node deliberately set up by the ancient beings. There was only the chaotic, sluggish collective consciousness of the worm swarm. They hadn't launched an attack in advance; they were merely lurking in the shadows of the rubble, waiting for their prey to walk in.
"The worms have no high-level psychic command. They rely solely on vibrations, body heat, and scent to hunt," Lin Yan said slowly. "We will crawl through one by one. Keep your movements as light as possible. Do not bump into the rocks, and do not make loud noises. Try to avoid getting mucus on your wounds. The mucus carries secondary spores; if it touches a fresh wound, it will erode the Sea of Consciousness much faster. I will go third. The scout goes first, the miner second, I will follow. The female support soldier goes fourth, and the other military police officer brings up the rear. The person at the rear is responsible for watching our backs to prevent the worms from flanking us from behind."
This order balanced scouting, hazard clearance, and vigilance. The miner, familiar with the rock layers, followed closely behind the scout; if he detected signs of a cave-in, he could immediately call for a halt. Lin Yan stayed in the middle; if someone became entangled in a spore illusion, he could wake them up from a close distance. The military police officer at the rear guarded the retreat path to prevent being pincered from both front and back by the worm swarm.
The scout nodded, bit the glow stone between his teeth, placed both hands against the rocks, slowly lowered his body, and inched into the crevice. His movements were so slow they were almost stiff. His palms avoided the slick mucus, and his knees carefully wedged into the gaps between the rubble. For every inch he moved, he first tested whether the rocks were stable.
The interior of the crevice was even more claustrophobic. One could only maintain a prone crawling position, with one's back almost touching the rock slab above. The faint light of the glow stone swayed within the gap, illuminating countless fine, grayish-white worms wriggging on the surface of the stones. They were only as thick as fingers, densely attached within the mucus layer. Sensing the scout's approach, they all stopped wriggging. Their tiny heads lifted toward the light source, but they did not immediately swarm. They were waiting for a closer stimulus.
Holding his breath, the scout crawled forward bit by bit. It took nearly three full minutes before he completely passed through the crevice and reached the relatively more open section of the tunnel on the other side. Upon arrival, he immediately raised his hand and made a safe signal, indicating for the next person to follow.
The miner followed closely behind. Having made a living in mine shafts for years, crawling through such narrow, collapsed passages was second nature to him. However, his expression was equally tense, his eyes constantly watching the precarious rubble above. Midway through, his knee brushed against a palm-sized piece of rubble. It wobbled slightly, and everyone's hearts leaped into their throats. Fortunately, the stone merely tapped lightly against the pile, not triggering a chain reaction collapse. The miner passed through safely and waited on the other side to assist.
It was Lin Yan's turn.
The instant he lay down, the wound on his waist was compressed. A wave of intense pain shot straight to the top of his head, and his vision went completely black. Cold sweat instantly soaked his inner clothing. He let out a muffled groan, gritting his teeth to endure it without making a sound. He slowly edged forward, his back scraping against the cold, rough rock slab. Every time his wound was pressed, it felt as if a sharp knife were churning inside. Countless worms were slowly wriggging in the mucus layer just over ten centimeters from his face. The stench of rot washed over him, and the spores frantically rushed into his Sea of Consciousness through his nasal cavity. The seductive whispers suddenly became crystal clear.
"Stop... Rest here, no need to walk anymore..."
Illusions took shape at the edges of his Sea of Consciousness. He seemed to see Scholar Su and the remaining people giving up resistance, see the little boy standing alone in a pool of blood, and see himself lying among the rubble, sleeping forever. Lin Yan bit down viciously on his tongue. A burst of stinging pain exploded, and his scattered consciousness snapped back into focus. He refused to look at the worms or listen to the voices in his mind. His gaze was locked solely on the faint, swaying light of the glow stone in the miner's hand ahead, moving forward inch by inch.
A few bold worms slowly crawled toward his arm along the mucus. Just as they were about to touch his bandage, Lin Yan freed one hand, pinched a worm between his fingertips, and silently crushed it. He didn't dare swing his arm with force; large movements would vibrate the rock layer and attract more of their kind. He could only deal with the approaching individuals silently and invisibly.
The endless process of crawling felt as if it had drained all his strength. When he finally crawled out of the crevice and the miner reached down to pull him up, his legs went soft, and he nearly collapsed to his knees. Leaning against the rock wall, he panted for a moment, his chest heaving violently. New blood seeped through the outer layer of his bandage; the crawling had indeed torn open a portion of the previously stabilized wounds.
"Are you okay?" the miner asked in a hushed voice.
"I'm fine. I can still hold on," Lin Yan stabilized his breathing and raised his hand to signal the next person to follow.
The female support soldier immediately crawled into the crevice. Her slender figure allowed her to pass through relatively smoothly. However, midway through, a worm darted toward her neck. Suppressing her instinctive panic, she reversed her grip and silently flicked it away with her short dagger. The last military police officer brought up the rear. As he crawled, he kept watch behind him, confirming that no massive swarm of worms had flanked the end of the squad, before following closely to emerge from the crevice.
All five members had successfully passed through the collapsed gap.
The squad leaned against the rock wall for a brief rest, not daring to stay long. Behind them, within the crevice, the worms sensed that their prey had passed. The agitated wriggling sounds grew denser, and a massive number of worm bodies gathered in the middle of the crevice, completely blocking this retreat path. If they wanted to turn back now, they would inevitably be swallowed by the swarm.
The retreat path had been invisibly sealed off.
The scout held the glow stone high to illuminate the path ahead. The tunnel stretched straight for dozens of meters before curving to the right in an arc. After turning the bend, the spore concentration climbed once again. A completely different psychic aura drifted out from the tunnel. It was no longer the chaotic, sluggish consciousness of the worms, but a stable, rhythmic psychic pulse with a resonant quality, like a distant bell slowly tolling.
Lin Yan's face changed slightly, and he raised his hand to signal the squad to stop.
"It's not a worm swarm ahead," he whispered. "It's a psychic resonance node set up by the ancient beings."
Deep within the cavern, the Spiderweb Ancient Being quietly perceived this scene. Watching the entire squad pass through the collapsed crevice and avoid the first trial of the worms, its consciousness rippled with a faint glimmer.
Good. They are still alive.
It transmitted a signal to the two secondary scaled beasts lurking in the rock cave beside the resonance node, ordering them to continue hiding and not expose themselves. Only when the human squad stepped into the core area of the resonance, their Sea of Consciousness torn apart by the resonance and plunged into chaotic illusions, would the true hunt begin.
Beyond the bend in the tunnel, the invisible psychic bell toll slowly expanded, silent and soundless, waiting for the prey to step into the trap.
Lin Yan raised his hand to press against his swelling temples, staring into the dark curve ahead. He knew clearly that this next trial was a hundred times more perilous than the worms and the cave-in.
End of Chapter.
Lin Yan walked in the middle of the formation, deliberately keeping his center of gravity low with every step. The wounds beneath his bandages sent continuous dull pain with the swaying of his body. The deepest gash on his waist felt as if an invisible hand was repeatedly pulling at it. Although his internal bleeding was temporarily stabilized, any slightly larger movement would send tearing agony shooting up his spine. Within his Sea of Consciousness, the whispers of the spores were much clearer than in the shelter pod. They were no longer vague illusions, but fragmented, gentle persuasions, repeatedly telling him to stop, to lean against the rock wall and rest, to sleep so he would no longer have to endure the pain.
He bit down hard on his tongue, using the continuous pain to anchor his mind. Simultaneously, he slowly circulated the ancient martial arts technique of concealing his breath, gathering his scattered Sea of Consciousness bit by bit. This technique was incredibly taxing at this moment. Every minor cycle of energy circulation consumed a massive amount of mental power. Soon, his forehead was covered in cold sweat, dripping from his jaw onto his lapel, mingling with the dried bloodstains.
The military police officer at the very front was the scout. He held the glow stone in one hand and gripped a short blade horizontally in the other, his gaze constantly sweeping over the crevices in the rock walls and the loose stones above. Trained in tunnel warfare, he knew how to distinguish rock fractures. From time to time, he would raise a hand to signal the squad to stop, tilting his head to listen to the sounds coming from the depths.
"The collapsed area is just ahead," the scout whispered, his voice pressed as low as possible for fear that sound waves might vibrate the loose gravel and trigger a secondary cave-in.
Everyone stopped.借着 (taking advantage of) the glow stone's light, they peered forward. The passage ahead was completely blocked by massive chunks of shattered shale. Layers of rocks were piled into a sloping embankment, with only a narrow, elongated gap less than half a meter high left at the top, leading pitch-black into the depths of the tunnel. The rocks at the edges of the gap were wet, coated with a layer of slick, dark cyan mucus—the exact traces left by the worms discovered during the previous reconnaissance. The mucus extended deep into the narrow gap, growing denser the further in it went.
The miner stepped forward, squinting to carefully examine the structure of the rock pile. He gently touched a half-suspended rock; it wobbled slightly, sending down a handful of fine sand.
"The stress in the rock layer is unstable. Several stones above are hanging loose. If someone forcefully bumps into them inside the gap, or if the noise is too loud, it could easily collapse and seal the crevice shut," the miner assessed in a low voice. "Moreover, this layer of mucus indicates the worms are inside the gap, and there won't be few of them. They usually hide in the crevices of the rubble, but they will swarm out collectively once they sense vibrations and the body heat of living humans."
The female support soldier gripped her short dagger tightly, her eyes fixed on the pitch-black crevice. "Can we bypass it?"
The miner slowly shook his head. "The rock walls on both sides are solid bedrock. There are no side passages. This flood discharge tunnel has only this single path here. If we want to continue forward, we have to crawl through this gap."
All eyes instinctively fell on Lin Yan. He took a deep breath, forcing his dizzy Sea of Consciousness to calm down, and carefully sensed the psychic fluctuations drifting from the direction of the gap. The spore concentration spiked sharply at the entrance of the gap, but there was no resonance node deliberately set up by the ancient beings. There was only the chaotic, sluggish collective consciousness of the worm swarm. They hadn't launched an attack in advance; they were merely lurking in the shadows of the rubble, waiting for their prey to walk in.
"The worms have no high-level psychic command. They rely solely on vibrations, body heat, and scent to hunt," Lin Yan said slowly. "We will crawl through one by one. Keep your movements as light as possible. Do not bump into the rocks, and do not make loud noises. Try to avoid getting mucus on your wounds. The mucus carries secondary spores; if it touches a fresh wound, it will erode the Sea of Consciousness much faster. I will go third. The scout goes first, the miner second, I will follow. The female support soldier goes fourth, and the other military police officer brings up the rear. The person at the rear is responsible for watching our backs to prevent the worms from flanking us from behind."
This order balanced scouting, hazard clearance, and vigilance. The miner, familiar with the rock layers, followed closely behind the scout; if he detected signs of a cave-in, he could immediately call for a halt. Lin Yan stayed in the middle; if someone became entangled in a spore illusion, he could wake them up from a close distance. The military police officer at the rear guarded the retreat path to prevent being pincered from both front and back by the worm swarm.
The scout nodded, bit the glow stone between his teeth, placed both hands against the rocks, slowly lowered his body, and inched into the crevice. His movements were so slow they were almost stiff. His palms avoided the slick mucus, and his knees carefully wedged into the gaps between the rubble. For every inch he moved, he first tested whether the rocks were stable.
The interior of the crevice was even more claustrophobic. One could only maintain a prone crawling position, with one's back almost touching the rock slab above. The faint light of the glow stone swayed within the gap, illuminating countless fine, grayish-white worms wriggging on the surface of the stones. They were only as thick as fingers, densely attached within the mucus layer. Sensing the scout's approach, they all stopped wriggging. Their tiny heads lifted toward the light source, but they did not immediately swarm. They were waiting for a closer stimulus.
Holding his breath, the scout crawled forward bit by bit. It took nearly three full minutes before he completely passed through the crevice and reached the relatively more open section of the tunnel on the other side. Upon arrival, he immediately raised his hand and made a safe signal, indicating for the next person to follow.
The miner followed closely behind. Having made a living in mine shafts for years, crawling through such narrow, collapsed passages was second nature to him. However, his expression was equally tense, his eyes constantly watching the precarious rubble above. Midway through, his knee brushed against a palm-sized piece of rubble. It wobbled slightly, and everyone's hearts leaped into their throats. Fortunately, the stone merely tapped lightly against the pile, not triggering a chain reaction collapse. The miner passed through safely and waited on the other side to assist.
It was Lin Yan's turn.
The instant he lay down, the wound on his waist was compressed. A wave of intense pain shot straight to the top of his head, and his vision went completely black. Cold sweat instantly soaked his inner clothing. He let out a muffled groan, gritting his teeth to endure it without making a sound. He slowly edged forward, his back scraping against the cold, rough rock slab. Every time his wound was pressed, it felt as if a sharp knife were churning inside. Countless worms were slowly wriggging in the mucus layer just over ten centimeters from his face. The stench of rot washed over him, and the spores frantically rushed into his Sea of Consciousness through his nasal cavity. The seductive whispers suddenly became crystal clear.
"Stop... Rest here, no need to walk anymore..."
Illusions took shape at the edges of his Sea of Consciousness. He seemed to see Scholar Su and the remaining people giving up resistance, see the little boy standing alone in a pool of blood, and see himself lying among the rubble, sleeping forever. Lin Yan bit down viciously on his tongue. A burst of stinging pain exploded, and his scattered consciousness snapped back into focus. He refused to look at the worms or listen to the voices in his mind. His gaze was locked solely on the faint, swaying light of the glow stone in the miner's hand ahead, moving forward inch by inch.
A few bold worms slowly crawled toward his arm along the mucus. Just as they were about to touch his bandage, Lin Yan freed one hand, pinched a worm between his fingertips, and silently crushed it. He didn't dare swing his arm with force; large movements would vibrate the rock layer and attract more of their kind. He could only deal with the approaching individuals silently and invisibly.
The endless process of crawling felt as if it had drained all his strength. When he finally crawled out of the crevice and the miner reached down to pull him up, his legs went soft, and he nearly collapsed to his knees. Leaning against the rock wall, he panted for a moment, his chest heaving violently. New blood seeped through the outer layer of his bandage; the crawling had indeed torn open a portion of the previously stabilized wounds.
"Are you okay?" the miner asked in a hushed voice.
"I'm fine. I can still hold on," Lin Yan stabilized his breathing and raised his hand to signal the next person to follow.
The female support soldier immediately crawled into the crevice. Her slender figure allowed her to pass through relatively smoothly. However, midway through, a worm darted toward her neck. Suppressing her instinctive panic, she reversed her grip and silently flicked it away with her short dagger. The last military police officer brought up the rear. As he crawled, he kept watch behind him, confirming that no massive swarm of worms had flanked the end of the squad, before following closely to emerge from the crevice.
All five members had successfully passed through the collapsed gap.
The squad leaned against the rock wall for a brief rest, not daring to stay long. Behind them, within the crevice, the worms sensed that their prey had passed. The agitated wriggling sounds grew denser, and a massive number of worm bodies gathered in the middle of the crevice, completely blocking this retreat path. If they wanted to turn back now, they would inevitably be swallowed by the swarm.
The retreat path had been invisibly sealed off.
The scout held the glow stone high to illuminate the path ahead. The tunnel stretched straight for dozens of meters before curving to the right in an arc. After turning the bend, the spore concentration climbed once again. A completely different psychic aura drifted out from the tunnel. It was no longer the chaotic, sluggish consciousness of the worms, but a stable, rhythmic psychic pulse with a resonant quality, like a distant bell slowly tolling.
Lin Yan's face changed slightly, and he raised his hand to signal the squad to stop.
"It's not a worm swarm ahead," he whispered. "It's a psychic resonance node set up by the ancient beings."
Deep within the cavern, the Spiderweb Ancient Being quietly perceived this scene. Watching the entire squad pass through the collapsed crevice and avoid the first trial of the worms, its consciousness rippled with a faint glimmer.
Good. They are still alive.
It transmitted a signal to the two secondary scaled beasts lurking in the rock cave beside the resonance node, ordering them to continue hiding and not expose themselves. Only when the human squad stepped into the core area of the resonance, their Sea of Consciousness torn apart by the resonance and plunged into chaotic illusions, would the true hunt begin.
Beyond the bend in the tunnel, the invisible psychic bell toll slowly expanded, silent and soundless, waiting for the prey to step into the trap.
Lin Yan raised his hand to press against his swelling temples, staring into the dark curve ahead. He knew clearly that this next trial was a hundred times more perilous than the worms and the cave-in.
End of Chapter.