The Lost Tomb Vol. 1

Chapter 33: Sea Ghost

Uncle Three was taken aback. He could understand if one or two of the people behind him were missing—even everyone disappearing wouldn't be too surprising—but the fact that there was one more person? It was just too unbelievable. He thought that maybe Chen Wen-Jin had counted wrong so he turned around and counted again. Going in order, he was first, Chen Wen-Jin was second, then there was the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh person. Li Sidi was the eighth, but then...

He suddenly gasped. There was definitely a ninth person hiding at the back of the group, but they were kind of blurry so he couldn't see their figure clearly.

Uncle Three immediately broke out in a cold sweat as he realized that something was wrong. He wasn't afraid of any demons or ghosts, but he had no experience underwater and didn't know what kind of thing might be lurking behind their group. He didn't think zombies could swim, but then again, he didn't know what zombies in an undersea tomb were called. Sea zombies? Wet zombies?(1)

He shook his head while thinking to himself, that Li Sidi fucker is really slow. How could he not even notice such a thing following behind him? It seemed that no one could be counted on in this situation; he'd just have to go and take a look for himself. He secretly took out a knife, held it so that the blade was hidden behind his arm, and then swam towards the back of the group to where the ninth person was standing there motionless.

When Li Sidi saw Uncle Three swimming straight towards him, he also realized that something was wrong and turned to look behind him. But when he moved, that person suddenly moved as well, as if they were imitating him. Li Sidi jerked back in fright and swam a few feet away, but the person copied him and swam a few feet away as well. It seemed that this person was completely imitating Li Sidi's movements, a situation which Uncle Three found not only strange but also a little funny. He moved his flashlight to get a look at the person's face, but they startled at the bright light and hurriedly fled backwards. But as the person fled from view, Uncle Three still managed to get a look at their face—it was huge and covered in scales! He was so shocked that he almost dropped the knife in his hand.

The terrified Li Sidi made a move like he was about to swim forward, no longer daring to stay here and rest, but Uncle Three quickly grabbed him. Li Sidi shouted something at Uncle Three, which looked like "good kid, good kid" based on how his lips were moving. He already had an accent that made it difficult to understand him at the best of times, but now the words formed by his mouth were even more incomprehensible.

When Uncle Three saw that he was practically hysterical to the point that he wanted to take his helmet off, he quickly pressed Li Sidi up against the wall. The wall looked sturdy, but when Li Sidi's body hit it, the seams in the bricks became loose at the same time and actually fell inward. Then, the water around them suddenly started flowing into the opening in a rapid torrent. Not good, Uncle Three thought to himself. But it was too late. In just a few seconds, they were swept into the hole in the wall like cockroaches in a toilet bowl.

Uncle Three didn't know how many times he had spun around but he felt as if all of his internal organs had been thrown to the side. Then, his head suddenly slammed into something hard—it was a good thing his helmet was so sturdy. He kicked his legs a few times and abruptly raised his head, only to find that he was out of the water.

The others also surfaced at about the same time as him. Several of the girls were throwing up in their helmets, which made for a disgusting sight (how did that song go again? The most disgusting thing wasn't seeing a rotting corpse but drowning in your own vomit...).(2) A few of the more resilient team members quickly held them up to prevent them from sinking back into the water.

Uncle Three also held Chen Wen-Jin in a tight embrace as he took a look around with his flashlight. It appeared they had already reached the tomb's back hall. He pulled out a windproof lighter and flicked it on, the resulting flame proof that there was oxygen in the hall. He made an OK gesture to the others to indicate that the air was fine and then they all lifted their heavy helmets off and took a deep breath. "It's so fragrant!" Several of them shouted at the same time.