"Everyone smelled a foul odor, and as we delved deeper, the stench grew stronger.
"Bro, it's pretty foul. Do you think there might be a lot of dead bodies in there?"
"It's unlikely. I'm quite familiar with the smell of corpses. Besides, this place isn't sealed. Even if there were bodies, they'd probably be bones by now. This smell is more like..."
"Poo, right?" Nose Cannon asked.
I nodded. "Sometimes, understanding is enough. No need to spell it out."
Stone Quiet, holding her nose, said, "Nose Cannon, you could've just said 'feces' instead of making it sound so gross."
"That's the way I talk," Nose Cannon muttered.
Suddenly, White Snow slipped and plopped down on the steps, tumbling down. Liu Yuanbao, walking in front of her, was also knocked over and rolled down like a ball.
Sun Tiedan reminded everyone, "The moisture here causes moss to grow on the steps, making them slippery. Be careful, everyone."
Nose Cannon popped up and said, "Iron Egg, it feels like you've been here before."
Sun Tiedan replied, "If it weren't for the fifty thousand bucks, I wouldn't have come here."
As we descended, the stench exploded like a bomb, knocking people off their feet. It was nauseating, reaching intolerable levels.
White Snow and Liu Yuanbao were covered in mud, looking utterly disheveled.
White Snow shook her hands. "Disgusting."
Sun Tiedan said, "It's bat droppings."
Upon hearing this, White Snow immediately vomited, tears streaming down her face.
Stone Quiet covered her mouth, giggling incessantly.
Nose Cannon murmured, "The wicked witch must be blossoming from the backside. Serves her right."
"Shh! Everyone, quiet, there's a noise."
Liu Yuanbao made a gesture for silence, and everyone immediately complied. Listening intently, we heard a familiar sound.
The sound grew louder, echoing throughout the cave, intensifying like the gates of hell opening, a cacophony of wails.
Liu Yuanbao's face turned ashen. "It's the sound of bats."
Trying to stay calm, I shone my flashlight ahead. My scalp tingled with fear as I saw countless bats hanging from the ceiling, their crimson eyes countless.
Nose Cannon swallowed hard. "W-What do we do?"
I panicked.
Suddenly, a bat pup, unable to wait for its mother's return, fell straight down, hitting White Snow on the head.
White Snow was petrified, screaming in terror and jumping around as if she had stepped on a live wire.
"Ahh, help!"
In a panic, she drew her gun and fired, the muzzle flash flickering and fading in an instant, provoking the bats into attacking us.
The previously silent battalion of bats was awakened by the gunfire, launching a sudden assault on us, turning the cave into chaos.
Everyone fought for themselves, overwhelmed.
There were too many bats. In moments, Nose Cannon and Sun Tiedan both uttered a hiss, succumbing to injuries.
"Run!"
I shouted, grabbing Stone Quiet's hand and running toward the exit as fast as I could.
The steps were slippery, and our feet were covered in bat guano. We tried several times, but kept slipping down the steps, unable to find stable footing.
Stone Quiet worriedly said, "We can't get out. Once they come, there'll be a stampede. We won't be able to stand up."
In desperation, I turned to them and shouted, "Go back, damn it, all of you! We can't get out. Run deeper into the cave!"
Nose Cannon ran over, swung his shovel in a wide arc, and flattened a giant bat, then helped support Stone Quiet's other arm.
"Bro, sis-in-law, let's go."
We fought and retreated, running deeper into the cave.
After what seemed like an eternity of running, we were exhausted, and the noise behind us gradually subsided.
The bat army didn't pursue us.
Relieved, we all collapsed on the ground, gasping for air, utterly spent.
"It hurts so much," Nose Cannon said.
"Squeeze the wounds a bit, be careful of infection," Sun Tiedan gritted his teeth, squeezing his own wound, then continued, "Miss White, you were really playing with your life back there. You owe us extra for this."
White Snow didn't pay attention to him. She twisted her neck, constantly rubbing it, obviously traumatized by the bat pup falling on her earlier.
"Xiao Jing, bring out the disinfectant. Let's quickly disinfect their wounds. It'll be trouble if they get infected."
We were in a sorry state, covered in bat guano, reeking to high heaven. No one was in a position to laugh at anyone else now; we were all in the same boat.
Stone Quiet asked, puzzled, "There's something I can't figure out. Why did the bat army suddenly give up chasing us?"
Nose Cannon wiped his wound with iodine, grimacing. "They must have been scared. I squashed over twenty of them with one shovel. Who beat me? I'll give them a dollar."
Then, I heard several disdainful snorts.
Stone Quiet was right; the bat army came on strong but suddenly backed off. There had to be a reason behind it.
Animals have senses far beyond humans. For example, before an earthquake, birds fly away, earthworms surface, chickens won't roost, and dogs won't go into their kennels.
Bats, as a special group, have evolved extraordinarily. Not only are they true night spirits, but their senses are also terrifyingly beyond imagination.
They emit ultrasonic waves ranging from 20 to 60 kHz, which not only allow them to locate prey but also to construct virtual maps.
However, animals act in their own self-interest. The bat army must have detected some mysterious force that frightened them to the core.
What could this force be?
Things were getting more complicated.
Grandpa said in "The Maze of Ten Thousand Tombs" that those in the "Zhi Guo" line not only needed to have eyes in the back of their heads but also to be prepared in advance, thinking ahead in everything they did.
After resting for a while, I stood up and said, "From now on, the situation is beyond our control. Everyone needs to stay alert."
White Snow chimed in, "That's right. Prepare for a protracted battle. Everyone turn off your flashlights. We only need one, held by Yuan Bao."
Upon hearing this, Nose Cannon said, "Leave mine on. Yuan Bao, turn yours off. We need to save battery power."
The clueless Nose Cannon didn't illuminate properly with his flashlight, swinging it around randomly, making my head spin.
"Can you illuminate properly?"
Nose Cannon shone the flashlight in my face. "What's wrong?"
I pushed his hand away. "In a tomb, shining a flashlight on someone's face is very unlucky."
"Bro, I didn't know you were so superstitious."
"You know nothing. It's a rule."
I told Nose Cannon to turn off his flashlight, but he stubbornly refused. I had no choice but to turn on my own flashlight again.
We hadn't gone far when we made a startling discovery: there were footprints on the ground.
I crouched down and felt them with my hand.
"They're still wet. Besides us, there are other people here."