Chapter 75: The Shadow in the Cave, Part 2

Chapter 75: The Shadow in the Cave, Part 2

“It felt hard? What hand? Many? What are you talking about?” Zhang Sanlu’s curiosity was immediately piqued, his mind conjuring one bizarre and horrifying image after another—so, many hands?!

“Wait—I—something’s wrong.” Suddenly, Zhang Mancheng cried out, and then his voice fell silent.

“What’s going on? Speak—” Zhang Sanlu shouted loudly.

But this time, there was no response from Zhang Mancheng; only the echo of his own voice resounded in the darkness of the cave.

Zhang Sanlu held his breath and waited for a while longer, then called out again, but still, there was no answer. Instead, a sudden, metallic clanging came from within.

Zhang Sanlu could hardly resist cursing, but he was afraid of missing any reply from inside, so he kept his ear turned and continued to call out as he listened.

Still, there was no answer—only the metallic “clang—clang—” echoing endlessly through the cave, the sound grating on his nerves until it became almost unbearable.

But Zhang Sanlu now realized something was wrong. There was no reason for Zhang Mancheng not to answer. Had he suddenly lost the ability to speak? Or was he being attacked, his voice too faint to call for help?

Could something have happened in those brief moments just now?

After one final, forceful shout, still met with silence, he immediately turned and crawled, hunched, towards the cave’s entrance. Zhang Sanlu cursed inwardly—what the hell was going on? Ever since he arrived in this world, he’d been stuck wandering through caves!

Halfway out, he came upon the countless carcasses of segmented limbs scattered before him. His mind felt scrambled, disturbed by the sight, incapable of forming a coherent thought.

He steeled himself to turn back and fetch Zhang Zhidào, when suddenly he heard a shout from behind.

“Hurry—come—!”

This time, the two words rang out with particular emphasis.

Zhang Sanlu hesitated. Was Zhang Mancheng in danger? If he went back outside to explain everything to Zhang Zhidào and brought him in, would that delay mean Zhang Mancheng was already dead by the time they returned?

Biting his lip, Zhang Sanlu turned and plunged back into the depths of the cave. The piercing clangs still echoed, muddling his judgment. Zhang Sanlu took several deep breaths, suppressing his growing agitation. He snuffed out his torch, tucked it into his waistband, and crawled through the collapsed opening in the low passage.

Inside, it was utterly dark—not a trace of light. Zhang Sanlu was forced to crawl with both hands and feet, feeling his way forward. Besides dirt and pebbles, now and then he touched the scattered limbs and fragments of the centipede, which crumbled beneath his weight.

He crawled on, losing all sense of time—had it been a few breaths, or hundreds? Still, he couldn’t reach the end. Was this tunnel truly so deep?

The path before Zhang Sanlu stretched on like an endless corridor of darkness. His palms and knees scraped along the cold ground; each movement brought with it ragged, heavy breaths. He had no idea how long he’d been crawling through this narrow passage; time seemed to lose all meaning here, leaving only the unknown ahead and the fear behind to accompany him.

The walls around him felt sticky, as if something was dripping from above, landing on his face like ash. Yet, when he reached to wipe it away, there was nothing there. Zhang Sanlu’s heart pounded violently in his chest, every beat a reminder that he was still alive—at least for now.

Before him was a void of darkness. He dared not look back, afraid of seeing something he ought not to see.

As he crawled deeper, his breathing grew more labored, as though a thousand pounds pressed on his chest, each breath draining his strength.

Suddenly, Zhang Sanlu’s ears caught an unusual sound—a breathing, but not his own. It was low and rapid, as if some creature lurked in the darkness, waiting for its prey. Zhang Sanlu’s heart leapt; he stopped, holding his breath, straining to locate the source of the sound.

It crept nearer, and a nameless terror flooded his heart. He searched frantically through the darkness, but saw nothing but blackness. Then—crack—a sudden emptiness beneath his hand. In his panic, he realized he had lost his footing! He braced for a steep plunge but instead tumbled roughly to the ground.

In that instant, a shadow leapt from behind him. A thick stench of blood filled his nostrils. Instinctively, Zhang Sanlu rolled aside, dodging the shadow’s reach.

“It’s me!”

Just as Zhang Sanlu was about to mutter the incantation to break his own rib—out of terror—he heard a low shout. It was Zhang Mancheng’s voice! He hurriedly grabbed the torch from his waist and struck fire to it.

In the pitch-black cave, a faint flame suddenly flared, casting light into the gloom. Zhang Sanlu saw Zhang Mancheng, his hair wild, looking as though he’d just emerged from a cocoon, his body covered in sticky filth and reeking of blood.

Lowering his torch, Zhang Sanlu saw that the side of Zhang Mancheng’s robe was stained red with blood.

“You’re hurt? What did this?” he asked.

“Brother, can’t you be a bit more alert next time?” Zhang Mancheng replied with a helpless expression, seemingly unconcerned about his wound. He tore a strip from his inner garment to use as a bandage, then shrugged off his robe. Zhang Sanlu saw a frightening gash at his side.

“What happened? How did you get hurt like that, in just a moment?”

Gritting his teeth, Zhang Mancheng wrapped the cloth around his wound and said, “As soon as I got in, something nasty came at me. If I hadn’t reacted fast, it would have been much worse.”

“What was it?”

“I couldn’t see in the dark—it felt like a lump of iron. When it came at me, it felt like several hands attacked at once. I struck back, but only hurt my own hand. Then it started clanging, the noise pounding in my head and making me dizzy. Luckily, I had protective charms on me—otherwise, I’d have been in real trouble!”

As Zhang Mancheng was tending to his wound, Zhang Sanlu suddenly noticed a flash in the torchlight—something seemed to be left in the wound.

“Wait, there’s something in your wound you haven’t cleaned out.”

Zhang Mancheng paused, then peeled back the cloth and bent under the torchlight to take a closer look at his side.

At the sight of what was in the wound, both men gasped in shock!