Thud* Thud* Thud*
Moving forward into the cave with heavy steps, Jiang Feng's surroundings slowly turned dark as the splashing sounds of the raindrops onto the ground became inaudible from where he was. Afraid of hitting a wall or anything he might encounter upon, Jiang Feng quickly retrieved his phone and switched on the flashlight.
As light appeared in the dark cave, the wet floors and dripping ceiling became clear in Jiang Feng's eyes. Gripping the umbrella in his hands tighter, Jiang Feng gulped down the nervous feeling in him as he continued advancing.
'So this is how the cave looks like…' Jiang Feng thought to himself.
Despite being afraid of the hidden dangers the cave might have, Jiang Feng wasn't restrained by it as he continued looking around him.
"Hmm? What's this?"
Murmuring to himself, Jiang Feng stopped advancing as his leg hit something on the ground.
Bringing the light to the ground beneath his feet, Jiang Feng immediately got startled as he took a few steps back. Looking at the bone-shaped item with pieces of blue cloth attached to it by some sort of dark red substance, he was sure…
'It's a human bone!'
With his trembling hands, Jiang Feng slowly directed the flashlight to the path in front of the bone he accidentally kicked on. As he had expected, there was not only one, but piles of human bones laying on the ground.
What was scarier to him, was the fact that these bones were not just laying everywhere on the path he was going to take, but stacked upon each other alongside both of the cave walls.
'Could these be the remains of those officers that entered here?'
Seeing that all of the piles had tore pieces of cloth on them, Jiang Feng couldn't help but relate his findings with that news he read, but one thing about the situation confused him.
"If these really are the remains of those officers that died during the investigation, why didn't the officers that entered afterward bring them out?"
Jiang Feng remembered clearly that the news said officers were then sent in again after the cave mysteriously stopped "devouring" people. However, if it was so, why would they say there was nothing found in the cave when there's clearly so much piles of bones here?
Shaking his head, Jiang Feng decided to put aside the thought and continue advancing.
Holding the umbrella even tighter as it was his only protective measure, Jiang Feng slowly walked past the piles of bones, whilst remaining alert for any "surprise" hiding amidst the piles of bones.
Walking deeper and deeper into the cave, Jiang Feng soon forgotten what his original plan was after seeing only the remains of his race. Unable to hold himself back from imagining what these officers had gone through before death, Jiang Feng was forced to stop in his tracks as his legs went limb and fell onto the ground.
Dropping the phone with the flashlight facing the floor, Jiang Feng's surrounding turned dark instantly as he covered his mouth. The feeling of nausea assaulted his mind as the gruesome images of the piles of bones he passed by until now was stuck in his mind.
As if the owner of these bones had left their horror behind before death, Jiang Feng heard their wailing resounding inside his head. Men, women, young, and old, their voices resonated with anguish and despair, making him even more uncomfortable.
Unable to hold it in, Jiang Feng pulled away his hands as the soup from his lunch earlier was vomited out.
Following suit, the noodles, the dumplings, even the bread crumbs from his breakfast was vomited out from his mouth as they stained the floors.
Once there was nothing left for him to puke out, Jiang Feng grabbed his phone and slowly moved towards the wall to lean on it. Having puke out his meals before this, he no longer felt that disgusted by the bones anymore.
Still, it frightened him to touch the remains of a human.
Leaning on the wall with his eyes closed, Jiang Feng took multiple deep breaths to calm his ragged breathing. Looking at the phone's slightly cracked screen, he saw that there was no line at where he was, meaning he couldn't contact his friends for help.
Just as stood back up and was about to return to the cave's entrance, or at least a spot where his phone could receive signal, Jiang Feng heard his name being called again by the inner depths of the cave.
"…Jiang Feng…"
"…Jiang Feng…"
As if being hypnotized by the voice, the thought of leaving was erased from Jiang Feng's mind as he advanced deeper into the cave, using the umbrella as a staff to support his weak body.
Ignoring the piles of bones at the sides, Jiang Feng arrived at what seems to be the end of the cave.
Looking around him, Jiang Feng saw that the piles of bones stopped at the edge of the empty ground he was standing on right now, making the only thing left in the room was the gigantic stone gate on his opposite side.
Staring at the stone gate in front of him, Jiang Feng noticed that there was weird symbols and drawings carved onto it, making both sides symmetrical. As his sights moved upwards, he saw a red orb about the size of a tire engraved into the gate's edges.
The red orb was giving off a dim glow, enough to light up the room as Jiang Feng turned off the flashlight function in his phone.
Keeping his phone in his pocket, Jiang Feng moved forward as his figure stopped before the gate. Taking a deep breath, Jiang Feng raised his hand and placed it on the stone gate. The moment his hand came into contact with the door, the ground started trembling as the stone gates opened on its own.
Before he could react to anything, the voice that was calling out to him sounded in his head.
"The individual 'Jiang Feng' has initiated the challenge to the 'Tomb Of *#@%&'."